GRAND GRANADA

In our two story rental house in the well-preserved old Moorish quarter, the Albaicin, we enjoyed spacious outdoor as well as indoor living, surprisingly steps away from a bus line, restaurants, food market, and -- except for Saturday night tour bus noise -- the peace and quiet of a small medieval enclave.

El Capilla Royal, burial site of the victorious Ferdinand and Isabella, reveals the splendor of the Christian culture that defeated the Moors.

Exploring the Alcazaba and gardens while awaiting your appointment for the Nasrid Palace provides insight into the difficulties of conquering this fortress, as well as appreciation of the special watery world of beauty the Moorish rulers enjoyed here.

Currently undergoing renovation, Carlos V’s Palace offers Hapsburg architecture in sharp contrast to that of the Nasrid Palace it fronts.

Quick Tips:

For a .88 euro charge per ticket you receive an appointment time in advance and an alphanumeric code to give at the Alhambra ticket office when you arrive so you can exchange your confirmation data for the real tickets you’ll need to get into the Nasrid. No more than five tickets can be purchased in a single advance transaction. For more particular information, look at the entry in this journal for the Alhambra. But disregard website information that states you can purchase tickets at a bank in Granada.

Best Way To Get Around:

We had smooth transfer on departure for we knew airport taxis are available in the Albaicin even as early as 6am ( thanks to the English speaking clerk at the Albaicin tourist office we had the taxi company’s telephone number) and had to walk only a block to our conveniently identifiable bus stop in front of El Salvator Church. Our mobile phone proved handy since our accommodation lacked a phone, and my limited Spanish helped to request an English speaker to order a taxi pickup.

Visiting here conveys déjà vu; everyone has seen so many photos of the Court of Lions, for example, that you find yourself encountering an already familiar sight that can diminish your appreciation of it unless you remind yourself of how long ago it was conceived. For some time we observed a restorer who was working on a part of the exterior wall of the Palace. As a result, we were able to appreciate how laborious such restoration is. This edifice requires constant maintenance because its beauty is fragile. Many of the materials used to build the Alhambra, especially the marquetry and lacy embellishments of the walls, are delicate, and its hilltop location exposes it to intense sun and wind.

My husband so wanted to see the Alhambra that we added to the expense of our trip considerably (over $1200 for three) as we had to book a flight to Granada from Barcelona, then go from Granada, which lacks an international airport, to Madrid, where we connected with a Lisbon flight. Was this extra expense worth it? Yes, it was. It’s a Moorish masterpiece unique and intact after over 500 years since it fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, the intensely Catholic, nationalistic monarchs who were so determined to capture this last Moorish stronghold that financially strapped Isabella had to scrape up the funding for Columbus’s voyage to the New World.

Many of the ‘tales of the Alhambra’ are sinister- this edifice displays the wealth and power of rulers often suspicious of their own sons who might overthrow them in their desire for the absolutist control of this privileged domain. In the Sala de los Abencerrajes, the father of the last ruler of the Alhambra had 16 people slaughtered because one of the Abencerrajes had an eye on a lady in the father’s harem. This room is gorgeous, with a remarkable cave-like ceiling and star cupola. As lovely as the harem quarters are, I reminded myself that its female occupants and its eunuchs were prisoners in and of this place so ethereally high above the common people who lived in the plain below them.

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.

My husband and I explored the remaining evidence of the Moorish soldiers who provided the protection for the king and his administrators. Several levels below the main area a visitor enters are warrens of quarters for the guards, storage for armaments, and other necessities for a full-time presence of armed guards. Above this area you can see by marks on the wall that several more levels existed, but, like the Nazarid Palace, the Alcazaba disintegrated after its conquest in 1492. The Spanish kings preferred to let Nature destroy these unwanted Moorish remains.

Napoleon’s troops attempted to blow up fortress and palace but, luckily, didn’t succeed. As American ambassador to Spain, Washington Irving stayed in the Nazarid Palace (you can see his room on your tour, though it’s disappointingly bare); his Tales of the Alhambra (1832) revived world interest in these Moorish relics, but not till 1862 did the city of Granada begin to restore the site. High and exposed to the weathering of the elements, the Alcazaba and Nazarid Palace both require constant maintenance.

We did not have time to see the Generalife (summer palace), but before and after our visit we spent over an hour in the gardens, where shrubs and bushes are artistically shaped and flowers bloom in abundance. Evidence of VIP villas with ponds and gardens indicates the king’s generals and advisors lived quite well within the palace grounds away from the more utilitarian confines of the Alcazaba.

We visited the Capilla when it reopened on Sunday at 3:30, so it wasn’t too crowded. People had dispersed after the Madonna procession that we had so serendipitously stumbled upon. This is the final resting place of the Reconquista monarchs, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille whose marital union helped to unite Spain and enabled them to oust the Moors from their last stronghold in Granada. Isabella wanted Granada to be the new capital, and, wishing to be buried in this city, she decided to have this chapel built on the site of a mosque. Both she and Ferdinand had to be buried temporarily in what is now the Parador San Francisco on the Alhambra grounds until this Chapel was finished.

We first entered the sacristy that contains Isabella’s crown and scepter, missal, and chest and Ferdinand’s swords, as well as some of Isabella’s paintings. Apparently, she amassed a significant private painting collection especially of Flemish artists, notably van der Weyden, Bouts and Memling. Bouts’ triptych of the Passion is particularly arresting. Napoleon’s troops looted the chapel, so the visitor sees the best of the remains.

In the Chapel itself are the tombs of carved marble with the monarchs rendered in repose with a lion and lioness respectively lodged at their feet as symbolic tributes.You have to descend to the crypt under these cenotaphs to view through tiny windows the actual lead coffins of the two rulers in the middle, flanked by those of their daughter Juana La Loca and her husband the handsome Hapsburg Philip who unfortunately died young an event that severely unhinged the so in love Juana. Also here are the remains of the rulers’ grandson Michael who died at age two.

Available at the reception desk is an English brochure (six pages) that provides helpful details about the Capilla’s history and the artists and architects that made it a reality. Shortly before her death in November1504, Isabella along with Ferdinand signed the royal decree that authorized creation of this Chapel. Construction began almost immediately after her death and the Chapel was completed in 1517, a year after Ferdinand’s death. This decree is also on display in the sacristy that was full of banners, emblems, paintings – a plethora of memorabilia of the two monarchs who considered the ejection of the Moors from Granada as the supreme accomplishment of their reign and thus wanted to not only be buried here, but to have the Spanish capital be Granada. Alas, they were buried here, but Granada never became the capital.

Our two-story rental house in the Albaicin was my most satisfying Granada experience. My husband felt the house was a bit too rustic. Several floating tiles in need of repair were located in the hallway directly in front of the bathroom entrance; these tiles were hazardous, but since there was a hallway light we could avoid walking over them during any nocturnal "visits." The bath shower was quite small, with a small ledge on its wall side reminiscent of tubs advertised for the handicapped. I had to admit it was awkward. These were minuses, but the plusses outweighed these minuses. Two terraces and a large pool area were so spacious that these outdoor spaces were larger than the spaces inside the house that I estimate had about 1200 square feet.

When we arrived, the pool with pool sweep was a big surprise as it was not even mentioned on the web site; when we booked for $96 a night for three persons for three nights. Now the site features pictures of it. This pool area is perfect for summertime fun and there’s a walkway that connects the pool area to the upper terrace with table and chairs for eating. If one continues past this walkway one can enter a second story bedroom via a French door. This bedroom and the master bedroom share the bathroom with bath tube over tub that my husband disliked.

Off the downstairs kitchen is a grape arbor terrace with a pool bathroom-open shower, sink, and toilet. Adjacent to this terrace is an annex with twin beds in one room and living and dining furnishings in the other. This was open, but the agent said it was too cool to use during October (true).The kitchen had dishwasher, microwave, and all the cooking apparatus and serving utensils for at least five people.

In front of the kitchen and just to the right of the main entrance hallway was a small living room with color TV and dining set with chairs as well as a sofa and a couple of chairs. On the wall was a fascinating old framed map of the Alhambra and Albaicin. Under the TV was a collection of area maps, attraction brochures and the guest book full of former renters’ comments.

Did I mention the view? In the front at night a view up the hills of Sacromonte, full of gypsy caves, and a twinkle with lights demanded we take photos. Despite its blemishes, my son and I fell in love with this old dame of a casita; except for the first night, a Saturday which brought noise from two huge busloads of tourists up for a night walk of the Albaicin, I slept like a babe. Price varies according to number of people, but I consider this rental was a bargain compared to the rate at even budget hotels in the Plaza Nueva area.