• Europe 2025 - part 1
    The Alhambra
    Gaps between inner and outer walls of the AlhambraChurch built on the site of the original mosqueKing Charles' palaceInside the palace, a lot like the Pantheon in Rome but without a roofLebanese cedar ceilingA lot of water in the Alhambra, fed by aquaducts from the hillsInside the AlhambraThe Sultan's private area. The fountain was a gift from a Jewish family12 lions representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Muslims don't show animals or people in their artUnusual ceiling in that it shows people. It was painted on leather and attached to the ceilingWindow looking over the gardenLooks a lot like buildings in FezCourtyardThe Albaicin area. It is inside the walls and was where all the people livedThe white building is the summer palaceLots of water, all aquaduct fedPart of the old Medina. The Alhambra was self sufficient, growing and making all they neededThe arch carries the aquaduct into the fortAlhambra gardens are really beautiful. Hard to get photos without heaps of people!Gardens again. They have concerts in the gardens in summerAlhambra from the summer palaceSummer palace looking over the Albaicin areaQueen Isabella and Columbus before he left to discover the new worldGrenada square

    The Alhambra

    September 10 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The biggest tourist attraction in Grenada is the Alhambra. This is a beautiful Islamic style palace and fort built on top of a hill overlooking Granada.

    A quick history: Muslims arrived in the area in the year 711. The then Sultan started to build the Alhambra in the 13 & 14 centuries. By 1492 Queen Isabella had pretty much united all of Spain under one monarch and with one religion - except for the area the sultan ruled around Grenada.

    The Spanish laid siege to the fort and after about a year the sultan saw there was no hope and surrendered. He initially was moved to a small property on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains where he stayed for about a year before moving to Fez. This explains the similarities between some of the buildings we saw in Fez and the Alhambra.

    The Alhambra has been modified over the centuries with Charles V building a palace within its walls and Napoleon’s troops destroying some parts of the old Medina but it is still stunning and a much loved landmark. The photos tell you more.

    After a tour of the palace we had about a 15 min walk down the hill to the centre of town. After a siesta we walked around looking at shops and people-watching. Really like Grenada, it is very clean and easy to walk around.

    We had a group tapas dinner in a local restaurant.    Read more