What a contrast! Even externally, the blaring solidity of this palace clashes with the discreet delicacy of the Nazarid Palace behind it that Carlos V attempted to visually eradicate by destroying one wing of it so he could have his palace loom over it. We arrived around 10am to this palace, well ahead of our 12:30 slot for the Nazarid. Judging from the guidebooks I had read, I expected to be totally bored touring the Carlos V Palace. Not so. Architecturally, this massive building has a cut stone façade that is quite impressive. Equally impressive is the huge circular courtyard within. Bullfights were staged here and I could imagine how members of the Spanish court viewed them from the tiered gallery of this building’s second story. Grandson of the Reconquista victors at Granada, Ferdinand and Isabella, the Hapsburg Carlos V, who was Holy Roman Emperor as well as King of Spain (Carlos I), knew he was the most powerful ruler in Europe. Like his grandparents, he was fiercely anti-Moor and endeavored to erase all vestiges of the Moorish culture that had thrived for centuries before 1492. He even taxed the Moors still residing in Granada so he could finance this affronting palace he placed before the palace of the Nazarids! Rubbing salt in the wounds of Moorish defeat seemed to be the Spanish monarchial style.
When we visited in October, 2003, this palace was open but undergoing restoration mainly on the exterior of the building. There are two free museums beyond the courtyard in the back of the palace on the first floor. The Alhambra Museum featuring Moorish art was far less interesting than the exhibit of contemporary Spanish architecture in the adjoining Museo de Bellas Artes. This museum is open daily from 9am-8pm and exhibits change frequently, whereas the Museo de Alhambra is open 9am-2:30pm, except for Sundays and Mondays.
For architecture fans this palace is an excellent example of Renaissance revival of emphasis on classical symmetry. The raised, regularly spaced stones of its exterior march along with impressive consistency. Pedro Machua, the overseer of the Palace’s construction, added marble columns to give this edifice an Italian look. Its central courtyard has such fine acoustics that often music festivals are staged there. I agree with many commentators who have noted that this palace if it were located elsewhere would receive more praise and attention as the fine example of Italian Renaissance style that it is. But, next to the Nazarid, it has to take second place in tourist appeal.