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Spain - Ronda - Giant's House
Zuz2006-02-16 17:49:00
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The name of "giant" for this house has its origin at two stone reliefs which decorate the corners of the building. Nowadays only one of them remains at its place. According to recent investigations, its origin is Phoenician.
It is a high class building, dated between the 14th and 15th century, similar to the buildings of the same age found at Magred (North Africa) and Granada. It is considered to be one mini palace and one of the best conserved buildings of the nazari architecture.
Its structure was partly modified before, but it keeps the whole original design of its ground and structure. Basically, it repeats the structure of one arab building, constructed around one central courtyard, in this case possibly with one pool in the midle of it.
It also conservs the ancient entrance of the house, leading to the visitor, after a 90 degrees turn to the main façade and the north room, remarkable due to its plentiful plasterwork decoration done at the arab style, with sentences written on it or with vegetal elements, and also due to its coffered ceiling. In both cases of decoration, there can be seen rests of its original polychromy.
The house is also interesting because it has got one typical algorfa (an arab passageway connecting two houses and built over the street level). That shows why some rooms of the arab buildings were built with so less altitude. There can be also found rests of plasterwork similar to the ones who can be admired at the Peinador (hairdresser) Gate of the Alhambra of Granada (14th century).
After a careful rehabilitation the House of the Giant was opened to the public in December of 2004.
See photographs from:
Spain Gallery
