No blog post about Granada can be complete without a fully documented account of the Alhambra (original in Arabic al-Hamrā, the red), a fortified city on al-Sabika hill, comprised of palaces, gardens, watchtowers and fountains.  For devoted readers of “pomegranate2015,” you know that the complex has been referenced repeatedly throughout this travelogue.  Yet never has a post been devoted exclusively to this subject.  The time has come.  100% Alhambra.   24 hours a day. 7 days a week.  Starting now.

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A. The book.

B. The author.

C. The apartment.

D. The commemmorative plaque.

A.  Publication of this romantic travelogue in 1832 put the fortress Alhambra on the map for many a continental tourist in the 19th century.

B.  American writer, historian and diplomat.  Penned Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Tales of the Alhambra.  Also made a mean Valencia-style paella.

C.  In this room, the Habitaciones de las Frutas, during the spring and summer of 1829, Irving (last name) composed The Alhambra:  A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards.

D.  Installed in 1914, this commemorative plaque attests to Washington Irving’s stay in the complex of the Palacio de Nazaríes of the fortress of the Alhambra of Andalusia, Spain of Europe in the Northern Hemisphere on the planet Earth.

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E.  The archways, doorways and windows.

Gate of Justice.

Mashrabiyas above the Wine Gate.

Torre de los Infantes.

Long ago, these walls were polychrome and completely decorated.

Sala de las Dos Hermanas.

Poorly composed photograph of the facade of Palacio Comares.

Entry to Hall of the Ambassadors.

Hall of the Kings (Sala de los Reyes).

Hall of the Two Sisters.

Inside Salón de los Embajadores.

Lindaraja windows.

Inside “The Alhambra.”

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F.  The tile work and arabesques and inscriptions.

Rosettes.

“There is no victor but Allah” (Nashkhid-Thuluth style).

Mudéjar tiles, also known as azulejos.

Carved plaster (Ataurique style).

Mocárabes with ataurique decoration.

Tessellation.

Wall patterns.

Borders.

Alicatado with arabesque.

Three-fold rotations.

False arch.

Very old glazed ceramic tiles known as Zellige.

False arch with Albayzin in distance.

El Mexuar Wall detail.

Plasterwork with Kufic and Nashkid-Thuluth engravings.

Carved plasterwork.

Wine gate (detail). Oy!

Quiz: What style is this?

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G.  The wildlife.

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H.  The ceilings, wooden and plaster.

Cedar wood ceiling of varying shades.

Stucco ceiling with muqarnes technique (honeycomb).

Stucco ceiling.

Stucco wall panel.

Wooden inlay ceiling.

Blue from long ago.

I.  The fountains and the ponds.  (Some of them.)

Court of the Myrtles (Patio de los Arrayanes) in the Comares Palace.

The fountain in the Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones).

The central pool at the Portico (el Partal).

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J.  Our house in the Albayzin from atop the Alcazaba.

K.  The extra photographs (partial collection).

Restoration.

Restoration up close.

Generalife (Hen-ara-LEE-fay) from afar.

L.  The alternative.

Better photos, better text, better.

From The Alhambra of Granada, text by Félix Bayón, photographs by Lluís Casals.