Filigree and Oils

Washington Irving spoke Spanish. Not only did he speak Spanish, he spoke it fluently. I never knew that. I thought he wrote the Tales of Sleepy Hollow, etc. and that was the end of the story.

Not at all.

It took me going to the Alhambra, a Moorish fortification in Granada, to learn more of his story. He lived at the Alhambra. I saw his room – a bare, somewhat ugly room: four walls, two doors, a large window, dark stone floors, plain white walls. Apparently he was ambassador to Spain in the 1800s.

But I haven’t told you about the Alhambra, have I? So silly of me. Well, it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Spain. So, naturally, I didn’t buy my ticket in advance. I didn’t know, you see, if I was going to go on Thursday night or Friday morning. Since I was too exhausted to go on Thursday night, it had to wait until Friday morning.

I was out of the house by seven. My GPS proved invaluable for ascending the mountain the Alhambra stands on, but it was no good to navigate the parking lots. I parked in the one closest to the entrance (perks of being early!) and retrieved my backpack from the trunk.

Not having bought a ticket, I had to get there early to stand in line. Line-standing is an interesting experience in a popular tourist attraction in Spain. You get to see how Americans act if they’re in a group versus how the rest of the world acts when they’re in a group. We do ourselves and our country’s reputation no favors, let me tell you.

Anyway, by 8 or so the place opened and we could buy our tickets. I was about 20 people back in a line that stretched around the ticket office, zig-zagged a good deal, and went down a hill. Another perk of being early.

According to Wikipedia, the Alhambra’s name simply means “The red one.” The origins of its name are disputed, as is pretty much everything here, but the walls are red so we think that’s one possible explanation. Also according to Wikipedia,

It was originally constructed as a small fortress in AD 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications, and then largely ignored until its ruins were renovated and rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Arab emir Mohammed ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada, who built its current palace and walls. It was converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered in the Renaissance style.

That simultaneously tells you nothing and everything about the Alhambra.

I got myself an audio guide, stowed my water in my backpack, and set off. Even in the early morning, it was a warm day, and muggy. The red dirt paths were just damp enough to not be dusty, and the clear ripple of running water provided a nice cover for the steady murmur of the visitors’ chatter.

It took a little while to figure out where I was going. The place is vast. It was, after all, a palace, a village, a garrison, and a thriving business center all rolled into one. I finally figured out where I was going, and meandered through the gardens on my way to the Generalife (pronounced hen-er-ahl-EE-fay), the summer palace of the Sultans of the Alhambra.

The generalife commands a sweeping view of the rest of the Alhambra, as well as the valleys below. It's a quiet, cool area replete with fountains and running water.

It's here that the filigree comes into play. The entire Alhambra is covered in delicate carvings and swirling calligraphy. Islam dictates that no images be used in Muslim art, so the decorations are of intricate geometric designs and verses from the Qur'an or the poets. It looks like stone lace.

By nature humans are oily creatures, and too much touching has the unfortunate result of breaking down stone and ruining the designs. (There was some intentional damage as well, but the real threat now is from curious visitors who just can't resist the urge to touch everything.)

This "Please Touch" panel is meant to cater to the compulsive touchers as well as the simply curious. I fell into the latter category until I saw the "Please Touch" panel; then, I was a compulsive toucher. I love touching things. (Touch is a weird word. I'm getting a squiggly red line under "toucher" and the whole concept of touching is seeming less and less like a real word.) 

It was beautiful. Don't let the pictures fool you: there were lots of people. I just tried to wait until most of them were hidden by the arches, and I tried to stay ahead of the packs.

The bottom right photo is of the water stair. It's a regular staircase, with upside-down roof tiles on either side. This lets water flow on either side of the stairs, falling from one roof tile to the next, the different bumps lending slightly different tones to the water. Or something like that. In any case, I liked it.

I wandered through to the Medina next, the area where artisans and servants lived in the days of the Sultans. It was a pretty place, the golden sun slanting through the trees and burning off the light mistiness of morning. It's all ruins now, all the houses and shops.





This is the gate that Ferdinand and Isabella's army poured through when Boabdil, the last Sultan of Granada, capitulated. Or, rather, it's the reconstruction of said gate. The thing lasted until Napoleon's army besieged the Alhambra with cannons and broke down the wall. I always knew Napoleon was an idiot.

         

Moving on. I turned my map every which way until I found two points to use as reference, and to my surprise I didn't get lost. I was on my way to the Nasrid Palaces, the palaces of the Sultans of Granada. On the way, I saw a bathhouse (Moorish Baths were the natural descendants of Roman Baths, but I daresay they were cleaner than their predecessors).

Channels of water run through the streets, to make washing feet easier before going to prayer. This is a staple of Moorish architecture. The channels are no wider than a person's foot. I can only imagine the logistical nightmare of creating a system of channels where the water is always running downhill at just the right angle to be slow and sedate.

This is the section of the Alhambra that is still in use, with shops lining the street and cars beeping and honking their way up and down the narrow streets. It's quite a different atmosphere from the quiet ruins and carved arches in the Generalife up on the hill.

Cats were in the weirdest places in the Alhambra,
all statue-still and slowly blinking their shrewd golden eyes.

The Nasrid Palaces could not have been more different to the Palace of Charles V. King Chuck apparently wanted a life of luxury and opulence, surrounded by pillars and overly carved Baroque architecture. And I do mean surrounded.

The palace was never lived in; it was not even completed. It's used today as a stage and as a museum of the Alhambra. I liked to see the different exhibits, but I absolutely loved climbing the wide, sweeping stairs. No one else realized they could go upstairs, and I had the upper gallery all to myself, with the exception of some workmen who were preparing for a concert.

The Nasrid Palaces, on the other hand, were light and airy - none of this heavy Baroque nonsense. The walls and ceilings were covered in tiles and carved wood.

   



In the courtyards, swifts dived and swooped. Their chirps and cries were sharp and high. Some wheeled and turned, always returning to their nests tucked into the ancient filigreed arches. They've been there for centuries.


The perfectly still water in the Court of the Myrtles reflected the carved battlements like a mirror. Two matching fountains bubbled quietly at either end of the pool, fed by the channels crisscrossing the floors. Somehow, they didn't disturb the sheet of water.




My path took me through the decorated halls, through Washington Irving's rooms, and to a small square room. The ceiling is ornate, with stone "stalactites" and a blue-and-white color scheme. Some of the decoration is damaged, a reminder of the time that Napoleon (remember what an idiot he was? Good.) stored gunpowder in it and it exploded. This is a small destruction indeed considering that he meant to blow up the complex entirely as retribution in a war he started to put his brother on the throne of Spain, but it's still a pity.

The next stop on my journey through the Nasrid Palaces was the Court of the Lions. There is a fountain in the middle, supported by twelve distinctly carved lions. The fountain feeds more channels in the floor. The entire courtyard is covered in geometric patterns and calligraphy.





















My time in the Alhambra was almost at an end. I took some time to appreciate a courtyard garden and the fantastic view from the palaces.  I found my way back to the visitor center, navigated the line of impatient tourists to return my audioguide, and figured out how to pay for parking, alongside a fellow tourist who was just as confused as I was.

(To be continued...Friday is too long to put in one post.)