La Alhambra, Granada

The Alhambra is located in the beautiful city of Granada. Overlooked by the mighty Sierra Nevada mountains, both the Generalife and Alhambra are some of the most visited tourist attractions in Spain.

When visiting Granada, both stunning monuments should be on your "must-do" list. The Alhambra, built in a rocky outcrop,  is a walled compound that is fortified by strong towers and well protected from invaders due to its difficult access.

The palaces that are located behind these bare walls stand in stark contrast with their intricate architecture and decorations. 

Visiting the general Alhambra will allow access to the Alcazaba, Nasrid palaces, Generalife, palace of Charles V and the Alhambra museum.

Visiting the Alhambra:


To avoid disappointment, book your tickets in advance. Where there is a ticket office on site, there is a quota of daily visitors. Once it is reached, sale of tickets is suspended until the next day. Advance booking allows you to buy tickets up to three months in advance.
Only buy tickets from the official website, first of all they are the cheapest and you are guaranteed to have purchased "real" tickets (Home - Tickets Alhambra Patronato )

Next is to choose the right tickets. The general ticket grants access to all areas open to the public. The gardens ticket, meanwhile, only grants access to the main landscaped areas. There are also two tickets for night-time visits: one for the palaces (available throughout the year) and one for the Generalife Gardens and Palace (available from April to November). The “Alhambra experiences” ticket includes a night-time tour of the Nasrid Palaces, and a daytime tour of the gardens the next day.

Once you are inside the complex, plan your visit:

The visit will take you at least three hours if you want to see everything. Where you can walk freely around the gardens, be mindful that entrance to the Nasrid Palaces comes with a set visiting time that is allocated when you book your tickets. Once you have that time, make sure to make your slot because there is no-way of changing it. Also, there is a queue to get into the palace, so don't turn up late.

The Alhambra:

The alhambra with its reddish walls is located on a strategic point high above the city. The Alhambra dates from the 9th century from where it became extended and populated. But it was only from the 13th century with the arrival of the first king that the royal residence was established in the Alhambra.

The old part of the Alcazaba was reinforced and the watch tower and keep were built. Water was diverted from the river Darro through canals and ramparts were built. Follwoing on from this further buildings like deposits and warehouses were built as was the palace.

Alcazaba:

The old part of the Alcazaba was reinforced and the watch tower and keep were built. Water was diverted from the river Darro through canals and ramparts were built. Follwoing on from this further buildings like deposits and warehouses were built as was the palace.

Generalife

The Generalife was a summer palace and estate of the nasrid rulers. The purpose of the Generalife was to provide a summer residence, but also fulfilled agricultural purposes. 

Built in the 13th and 14th Centuries, it's located along the slope of the Cerro del Sol, bordering the walls of the Alhambra. The buildings were surrounded by stunning orchards and gardens, providing food supplies to the palaces. The fertile land was created by diverting the course of the Darro, a river that provided fresh irrigation water to the palace.

The outer gardens:

These gardens exist out of three large terraces with the two lower ones being the gardens that provided the palaces with food in the 14th Century. The highest of the three is a new garden that was added in the 20th Century

The Generalife palace:

The core of the palace is centered around the courtyard of the water canal. The patio is closed on its northern and southern sides by pavilions. The south pavilion is a two-floor structure where the north pavilion was known to be the main hall.

 Walking around the palace, you can't but admire the intricate detail in the buildings. The richly-carved stucco decoration with motifs and Arabic inscriptions and the beautiful wooden ceilings are just spectacular.


The court of the Sultana's Cypress tree is another stunning patio. The patio's central pond is surrounded by myrtle hedges. At the end of the patio is a large 19th century staircase that brings you to the higher part of the gardens  
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Nasrid palaces

​The Nasrid Palaces are the habitual residence of the Kings of Granada and are formed by three palaces: 


​Mexuar:

 Considered the oldest part of the whole palace, the Mexuat was used for justice related matters and for meetings with the king's ministers. The sultan used to sit on an elevated stand and gave justice.  The hall is completely covered by decorative inscriptions which are poems praising god or the emir, texts of the Koran,...
At the end of the room, there is a small room which served as a chapel, hence the reason it is oriented differently in order to meet religious requirements.

Comares palace

The Comares palace was used to deal with state affairs. It is here that you find the Comares tower, the baths of Comares,... It was the residence of the sultan and his family and inside the Comares Tower was the Hall of the Throne.

The centre of the palace is occupied by the court of the Myrtles, a rectangular elongated pond flanked on both sides by myrtles.

The palace of the lions:

The palace of the lions is the private area of the royal family. It is composed by a central patio better known as the Patio of the Lions, the most famous place of the palace. It got its name from the twelve water-spewing lions which are part of the fountain in the middle of the patio. The pation is surrounded by a gallery in the style of a Christian cloister. The gallery, supported by 124 marble columns are decorated with stunning inscriptions.

The hall of the Abencerrajes and the hall of the two sisters are stunningly decorated. These chambers housed the sultana and her family. Within this room, you find a stunning dome of mocarabes which looks like a stunning flower. 

Palacio Carlos V

The construction of the palace started in 1527 and was never completed due to lack of funds and uprisings. The project was abandoned in 1637 leaving the structure without a roof resulting in its deterioration until it was finally completed after 1923. This renaissance building has a rectangular exterior, but the inner courtyard is circular.