In Granada, the famous Palaces of the last Moorish rulers in Europe.
A view on one of the courtyards.
Wood inlay on a ceiling board
You simply can’t do justice to the grace of these designs.
All 17 mathematically possible wallpaper groups are represented at the Al Hambra. A feat not repeated in architecture anywhere else.
And you still have to imagine the whole lot in colour. Some remaining colour here and there gives us some idea.
Those Majorica tiles were added by a later and somewhat less subtle stylist.
Another charming courtyard.
The Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabella set up their cannons on a opposing hill in 1492 and threatened to bombard the Al Hambra. This was too much for the emir of the time and he surrendered.
According to legend the emir’s mother berated him on the way out of the region, – you couldn’t fight like a man to keep the city and now you are crying like a woman because you lost her.
Well perhaps he was right, they survived him by centuries, even in a ravished state, and we can still wonder at them today.
The Generalife are gardens surrounding and completing the palaces. They are a story on their own. Here is just a glimpse.
The water for the gardens and fields for feeding the city comes from these mountains. Its is one of those magic spots where you can ski in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon.
Song of Wheels 