Granada and its graffiti

The main reason to go to Granada is to visit the Alhambra and it was certainly worthwhile as I needed up spending a whole day there. I bought my ticket online prior to visiting for 14 euros then collected it on arrival from a ticket machine. It was an afternoon ticket, which meant I could only enter the Alcazaba and Palace of the Goodlife after 2 pm and my entry to the Palaces of Nasrid was at 2 pm precisely. After the steep climb up the Alhambra, as it is on a promontory overlooking Granada and its surrounds, I then spent the next few hours looking around the “free” part. This included the Palace of Carlos V, which was built in 1492 after the Catholics took over, and the nearby church both of which were newer and constructed during the Christian era of the complex. Stone lion faces with rings through their noses decorated the Palace Carlos V, which was basically just a square block but had a nice circular courtyard inside. Nearby and much older from the Muslim era was the remains of a Hammam or traditional bath house. The remains of one bath could be seen with some blue and white tiles still attached. There were nice gardens in between with blooming roses in many colours under the shade of some larger trees. A climbing plant with purple flowers also hung down covering some of the shaded walls.

However it was the Palaces of Nasrid that is the real attraction. They date from the 13th and 14th centuries when the Moors and Islam ruled southern Spain, hence it has many of the same features of buildings seen in Morocco. It is a rambling mass of palaces, courtyards, balconies . . . . . . With pools, fountains, climbing plants and hedges in the courtyards, often with a portico at one end with a series of arches looking towards the courtyard.

Very attractive, very serene and very relaxing. It is so easy just to sit by and relax, as long as you could get out of the hot sun (it was high 30s). Inside the buildings was where the major decoration occurred. In fact it reminded me of the slowly disintegrating Glaoui palace at Telouet in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. Mosaic tiling in greens, blue, black, white and mustard is geometric designs covered the lower metre and a half of the walls.
Higher was carved stucco or plasterwork with a mixture of symbolic representations of plants, calligraphy symbols and geometric designs including lines and shapes. Sometimes this is used as borders, at other times it will be the top metre and a half on walls, often with arch shapes incorporating different patterns.
Then there was the wood ceilings, either with intricately painted designs painted on the wood or with wood pieces fitted together to form geometric design on the roof. When looking at this it has to be remembered that Islam forbids the depiction of human or animal figures, hence the extensive use of geometric designs. Outside were more reflection pools surrounded by designed and manicured gardens with meandering paths, often with hedged borders forming triangle or square or semi-circular shaped mini gardens. More flowers, in addition to roses there was blue plumbago cascading down a wall, palm trees towering above a pool, citrus trees, the smelly flowering privet, pencil pines lining walkways, lavender, jasmine - so all very pretty, especially when the twinkling of water from fountains are interspersed regularly.

The huge park areas around the Alhambra including the large trees are actually irrigated with huge sprinklers to keep them green, unlike the surrounding countryside which is very brown, just like southern Australia in Summer. The Nasrid Palace and surrounding medina was home to the noblemen and their families, the Alcazaba was the military garrison and the Generalife was the palace and garden area in which the Granadian kings relaxed. The entire complex is surrounded by high earthen ramparts with many watch towers interspersed. This sets it up as an ideal fortress.

The Generalife Palace

Granada also had a HUGE cathedral that was quite spectacular inside, an interesting archeological museum, lots more churches and lots of outdoor cafes to sit at in the evening as the temperature slowly cooled. I couldn’t believe how many icecream shops there were - not sure what happens to them in Winter!