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August 2003

Andalusia - Granada

David Aaronson
2005-09-28 19:43:50

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on the right. The Nasrid palaces are hidden in this view by the walls of the fortress. In the distance however between the two towers is another hill which is home to the Generalife (Architect's Garden) and the Summer Palace (the white building visible in the distance).

The Summer Palace is yet another wonder of the Alhambra (8). The most famous of the many Alhambra stories is probably that of Zoraya the one-time Sultana of Granada. In the Sultana's Garden inside the Summer Palace, she was caught by the Sultan Abu al-Hasan as she met her lover, a member of the Abencerraj family. For revenge, Abu al-Hasan had the entire Abencerraj family murdered (in a room in the Nasrid palace in fact).

The gardens of the Generalife are vast and contain a seemingly endless variety of private alcoves and courtyards. We wandered through here for possibly a couple of hours as it's sort of hard to tell where you've been and where you haven't. Generally one goes through them on one path or another to the Summer Palace which deposits you on an upper level of the gardens so you can work your way back.

The Generalife has good views of the Albayzin and back at the Alhambra as well. From here you can see the extent of formally landscaped gardens within the Alhambra as well. If all of that isn't enough hedges and fountains there are more within the Nasrid Palaces (see that webpage).

This is the court of the water channel (Patio de la Acequia) within the Summer Palace (9). The detailing of Arabic script and Islamic geometric designs into the walls here is fantastic, unless you've just been to the Nasrid Palaces in which case it only registers as ordinary. The standard tickets give you a half-hour window to enter the Nasrid Palaces so that will probably constrain any visit to a certain order. For us, the Generalife was the last thing we saw before the entire complex closed for lunch. There is a mini-town area outside the main gate of the Alhambra to service the 8000 people (potentially) who are allowed to visit each day. We walked back down to the main road between the Albayzin and the Alhambra and had lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants situated beneath the fortress walls. Granada also features a Cathedral with more Ferdinand and Isabella mementos than you would ever want to see.