It is essential to buy a ticket well in advance to enter the exquisite Nazari Palaces which lie within the Alhambra . These are easily obtained on the Internet but you MUST be at the entrance which is inside the complex at the stated time. Our ticket was timed for a Sunday at 2pm.We breakfasted in a square with colourful flower stalls, the sun sparkling on the water of the fountains. When a dustcart arrived we were intrigued to find that the rubbish thrown into a normal looking bin appeared to enter a deep subterranean pit underneath it. The bar we had breakfast in had a loo that was also subterranean - accessed by a narrow staircase with room only for midgets.
We wandered around the city and found the old silk market. It was as though we'd been transported to a souk in North Africa. Cloth in all the colours of the rainbow hung over narrow streets.The smell of exotic herbs and spices drifted on the air with the tinkling of tiny bells suspended from walls, ceilings and items of clothing. Ceramics, leather, copper, lamps and lanterns were all for sale by gnarled old men, and younger ones with sparkling eyes and heart breaking smiles to match. (My husband says there were attractive women as well!)
After lunch we walked to the Alhambra climbing steep steps to the entrance shaded by trees. Water bubbled down channels on either side of the steps and the snow clad Sierra Nevadas could just be glimpsed under an azure sky.
Once inside the grounds we found the imposing palace of Charles V. This was built in 1527 and has a solid feel to it with two ornate facades. Further on in the grounds we found the ancient Baths. What tales could this place tell, where the women of the harem would bathe under the light of the starred roof watched by the sultan before he made his choice for the night?
At 2pm we joined the queue to enter the palace of the Nazaries. At first its beauty is not obvious but the further in you enter the more you fall under its spell.
Praises to Allah resound throughout in exquisite writing engraved into columns, archways, stairs and ceilings. Ornamental ceramic and stucco work designs remain in their vivid shades of blue, red , orange, yellow and green, they are based on geometric shapes. These are symmetrically repeated to infinity as a metaphor for eternity. One often sees these designs today incorporated into people's terraces and outside stairs. An incredible testimony to their appeal five centuries later.
Eventually we reached the Court of the Myrtles. It is crowded in the Alhambra but most people go past in groups. If you hold back and wait for a moment until no-one is there you will have a perfect brief moment when you can glimpse the paradise that was part of the sultan's official residence in the 14th century. The Comares tower stands at one end of a rectangular pool, a fountain at the other.
If you go and stand behind the fountain you will see reflected in the surface of the pool, the azure sky, white clouds, the red tower and the cream pillars and archways. A fish ripples the water and something magical happens. The image trembles, swirls, fragments and reforms again and again. Hypnotic... Memories of centuries past lying just out of reach. Just beneath the surface.
Eventually I managed to drag myself away and we found the next wonder - El Patio de los Liones - the Lion courtyard. In its centre a fountain is ringed by twelve lions which have been recently restored. It is flanked by a gallery of 124 marble columns. This was the Sultan's private residence and the women's bedrooms. The sense of the past reaching out, is again, almost tangible.
The 600 year old lions seem to watch us disdainfully. How many more civilisations may come and go under their scornful gaze?
Everywhere arched windows frame the mountains. The noises from the ancient city drift up to us.
Walking out into the gardens we are embraced by the colours and perfumes of the flowers and trees. Everywhere can be heard the bubbling and splashing of water in fountains, pools and rivulets.
I hope that I've done justice to and given you some sense of the beauty of the Alhambra. Lots more photos and descriptions can be found on the Internet.
On our last day we lunched near the walls of the Alhambra, sitting under a shaded canopy dripping with lilac coloured wisteria, the sound of water running nearby. We walked along, 'the street of the sad', as a gypsy guitar played a lament in the distance. Looking down over a bridge we saw a young couple, dressed in hippy clothes standing in the stream making patterns with sticks in the water. This mystic city can be summarised by a verse by Francisco A. de Icaza displayed at the tower of La Polvorosa at the Alhambra -
Give him alms, woman,
as there is no greater
tribulation in life,
than being blind in Granada.
Thank you so much for reading. My number of 'views' of this blog have now reached more than a thousand from all over the world. If you have any comments I would love to have them at: www.writerinaguilas.gmail.com
My next blog will be published the week-end of the 10th of November. This blog (if all goes to plan), will be about the true cost of the salad on your plate!Please join me, Cathy.
Espero que te guste este blog. El proximo sera el fin de semana 10 de noviembre y es sobre el precio secreto de tu ensaladas!
Si tienes algunos comentarios mandarlos:
www.writerinaguilas@gmail.com
Cathy, I'm delighted to walk across the Alhambra with you. Your charming writting match well the elegance of the sounds and the images you've brought to my memory. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMaria,
Deletethank you so much for your kind comments. I very mch enjoyed writing it as it brought back lovely memories.
Best Wishes,
Cathy