Alhambra
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Charles V palace in Alhambra
Location	Granada, Andalusia, Spain
Part of	Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
Criteria	Cultural: i, iii, iv
Reference	314-001
Inscription	1984 (8th Session)
Extensions	1994
Website	www.alhambradegranada.org
Coordinates	37°10′36″N 3°35′40″W / 37.17667°N 3.59444°W / 37.17667; -3.59444
Location in Spain

Plan of the Palacio Arabe 1889

The Alhambra (from Arabic الْحَمْرَاء = Al-Ħamrā', literally "the red fort"; the complete name was الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ = al-Qal'at al-Ħamrā' = "the red fortress") is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers of Granada in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed during the mid 14th century), occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada.

History

In the Middle Ages the Alhambra was the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court, now it is one of Spain's major tourist attractions. There one can see the most famous Islamic Architecture of the country. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1527.

The Muslim rulers lost Granada and Alhambra in 1492 without the fortress itself being attacked when King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile took the surrounding region with an overwhelming force of numbers.

Media

Patio of the palace of Charles V
Panoramic view
Panoramic view, illuminated at night
Mocárabes or honeycomb works
Lions Fontain
Court of the Lions
Court of the Lions
Detail looking up wall, Golden Room patio
Alhambra illuminated at night
The pool of the El Partal Palace
Light effects in the Court of Lions
Guests in the Comares Palace
Detail of a wall of the palacios nazaries
Video walkthrough of the Alhambra - part 1
Video walkthrough of the Alhambra - part 2
Video walkthrough of the Alhambra - part 3

Other reading sources

Jacobs, Michael; Fernández, Francisco (2009), Alhambra, Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-0-7112-2518-3
Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1997), The Alhambra. Vol 1: From the Ninth Century to Yusuf I (1354), Saqi Books, ISBN 0-86356-466-6
Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1998), The Alhambra. Vol 2: (1354–1391), Saqi Books, ISBN 0-86356-467-4
Fernández Puertas, Antonio (1999), The Alhambra. Vol 3: From 1391 to the Present Day, Saqi Books, ISBN 978-0-86356-589-2
Grabar, Oleg. The Alhambra. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Jacobs, Michael and Francisco Fernandez. Alhambra. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2000.
Lowney, Chris. A Vanished World: Medieval Spain’s Golden Age of Enlightenment. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 2005.
Menocal, Maria, Rosa. The Ornament of the World. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.
Read, Jan. The Moors in Spain and Portugal. London: Faber and Faber, 1974.
D. Fairchild Ruggles, “Alhambra,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, third edition. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2008.
D. Fairchild Ruggles, Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain, Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000.
D. Fairchild Ruggles, “The Gardens of the Alhambra and the Concept of the Garden in Islamic Spain,” in Al-Andalus: The Arts of Islamic Spain, ed. Jerrilynn Dodds. New York: Metropolitan Museum, 1992, pp. 162–71.
D. Fairchild Ruggles, Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.
Steves, Rick (2004). Spain and Portugal 2004, pp. 204–205. Avalon Travel Publishing. ISBN 1-56691-529-5.
lexicorient.com Archived 2015-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
Stewart, Desmond. The Alhambra. Newsweek Publishing, 1974. ISBN 0-88225-088-4.
The World Heritage. Istanbul and Cordoba, Vol. #15. Film Ideas, 2008. ISBN 1-57557-715-1.

Related pages

Islamic architecture

References

Other websites

Categories