Hermann’s Holiday Surprise Visit to the Alhambra

In which contrast-loving Sid and Doris go early morning mosque-ing.  A post with a lot of pictures of the Alhambra that other people may have posted too so you can skip this one if you want.

At very short notice the concierge at the Hospes Palacio de los Patos did find us tickets and Pablo The Well Informed Guide for the Alhambra. The complex has been built on, left to rot and conserved since the 13th century. Pablo tells us more than we can remember and while Sid asks his usual range of off-the-wall questions Doris gets busy with the iPhone’s camera. What Sid particularly enjoys is the disentangling of the layers. At the first gate, clearly an Arab Moslem construction, the Catholic Monarchs had placed a statue of Mary. No need to knock down this excellent fort, palace and pleasure garden. Add a few royal shields to the int dec and it is officially Thpanith, and Catholic.

The modest projects of TV’s Grand Designs are not the only ones to meet delays and cost overruns. Charles the Fifth’s Palacio Royale was commissioned in 1526, to be financed by a tax on the Moors. Building was delayed by local uprisings in 1568. As we walk around in 2021 it is still not finished. There are niches unfilled and for modern tastes it is maybe better for the absence of renaissance frill.

Here are some of Doris’s pictures.  For commentary, Pablo recommends looking at works that link Escher and the Alhambra, although we know that once our cherished and only reader has started to click on that we may as well save the rest of the post for another day/month/year.

Pablo tells us that what looks like intricate carving was actually done with moulds, which explains why the repeated motifs are so identical but raises other challenges such as how they ensured that the walls were exactly square.

In the middle of the palace complex, Charles built a big round space inside a big square building.  Neither of these photograph very well but the acoustics are spectacular (?? auricular??) if you stand in the centre of the circle and whisper a word, or indeed sing Jingle Bells.  As Doris did, joining in with an American Mom and her child, before the security guard asked if we would kindly stop.  The circular space is surrounded by columns of a material that looks vaguely familiar and yes! Pablo confirms they are pudding-stone.  We last saw this material over two years ago being forcibly admired by the Duke of Edinburgh.  Some more professional pictures (of the building, not the DofE) are here.

Pablo also has some iPhone tricks up his sleeve.  One is the halo effect that the Sultan would have got sitting with this window behind him.  Another is a very cool vertical panorama shot of this pool which he says he learned from some Chinese tourists.  Cultural exchanges go both ways.

Much of the restoration is informed by Leopoldo Torres Balbas who was Alhambra curator from 1923 though dismissed from his post in the early years of the Civil War – Granada being one of the first cities to declare for Franco.

The Generalife was the family resort away from ceremony and the fun of wielding power. The water runs gently here, no need for showy spouts and crashing water. Much of the decoration is in the form of calligraphy, some of it in very, very fine mosaic pieces.

Pablo’s Interesting Fact Number 497 (or probably more, because I haven’t been counting) is that the Muslim tradition is for still or gently flowing water, while the Christians like splashy fountains.  So next time you see a noisy fountain say “splish splash my dear, how vulgarly Christian”.  Ha ha that will be an in-joke that nobody else will get. Below – on the left, Moorish, on the right, Christian.  Also see the fountain with lions above and contrast that with the Trevi fountain.

The Michelin system grades by stars. Three stars means Vaut le voyage. And it does, so put it on your list. Even ahead of the Millenium Dome.  Doris has taken some fine pictures. There is probably a Discovery Channel documentary (for filming which the Alhambra will have charged fiercely, Pablo tells us, because it is a profit centre not a cost centre). Do have a look.

Pablo was a great fit for us, knowledgeable and intellectually curious.  His full name is Pablo Flores Nieto, his email is pfn@exotico.org and his phone number is +34 661 925 672 if this post has inspired you to visit Granada.

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