Washington Irving

I have been neglectful and have let far too much time pass between these blogs. I have seen and done so much that I'm afraid I am going to overwhelm my few faithful followers with a blog that is far too long. Therefore, here is a snapshot of one adventure.

Yesterday we began our day with a trip up to the Alhambra, the palace built in the 14th century by Moorish rulers of the Granada area. The palace is situated on a large hill with tall walls that surrounded it and the houses of the village of nobles and servants. The elaborate terraced gardens have long since been overgrown and now all that remains is a small recreated garden for the tourists to walk through on their way to the summer house.

The summer house was built on seven levels, symbolic of the Muslim relgion, and bits of the amazing plasterwork still remained, though it was only a shadow of what we were about to see in the main castle. Since the summer hous was outside of the walls, it was only used on the hot summer days as a day time retreat. The royal family never stayed over night in the house.

The palace is plain on the outside, but the inside is ornate with its plaster work, tiling, and carved ceilings. The Quran writings can be seen in the artwork throughout the palace. There are three main parts to the palace, the Sultan's women only being allowed in a certain area so as not to be seen by men visiting. Jealousy windows are on the upper stories over looking the fountains and gardens below. Jealousy windows allow the wives and mistresses to look out of the window but the men outside cannot look in.

When the Christian Monarchs seized Granada at the beginning of 1492 (a big year for Ferdinand and Isabella), they of course inherited the palace as well. Over future years many changes would be maid to the palace. First, and addition would be put on where the Sultan and his women had lived. Then, a second palace was built in the more modern style, but that king and queen left before the palace was finished, and they never returned to use it.

In the 1800's, Washington Irving visited Granada and stayed in the addition of the Alhambra. A plaque on the wall commemorates his visit. The book he wrote on tales of the Alhambra fills a giftshop.

As we walked down the path back to the city thinking about the amazing view and the powerful monarchs who had inhabited the buildings, we just left we passed a statue. I turned and studied the statue-Washington Irving. Of all the important figures in the Alhambra's history, Washington Irving stands guard next to the path that leads to the palace.