The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Palace of the Christian Kings) is quite a fitting name for this royal medieval fortress. Built in 1328 under the rule of King Alfonso XI, it later became a "headquarters" for the Catholic monarchs during their quest to capture Granada in the late 1400s. From here, Ferdinand and Isabella planned the demise of Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler in Spain and made it so in the year of 1492.
By the mid-1500s, the Alcazar was used by the Spanish Inquisition and was then later turned into a prison. This may explain why so much of the palace is not as well preserved as other castles and fortresses in Spain. The gardens, however, are a much different story. They are just magnificient! In one particular area of a very formal hedge garden were life-sized statues of Spain's Christian Kings. These wonderful likenesses lead all the way down the garden to a monument of the favorites. It was Ferdinand and Isabella giving charge to Christopher Columbus to set sail with his ships.