While the Royal Palace is the most spectacular part of the Alhambra, you shouldn’t miss the rest of the complex. The alcazaba, or citadel, its oldest part, is built on the isolated and precipitous edged plateau on the northwest of the complex. Massive outer walls, towers and ramparts are all that are left of the original structure. You can climb the winding staircase to the top terrace of its watchtower, the Torre de la Vela, (25 metres high) and there are marvelous views over the city. A turret containing a large bell was added in the 18th century and restored after being damaged by lightning in 1881.
It is obvious that the Alcazaba served a military function. The entrance was at the foot of the Tower of Homage. A simple L-shaped walkway keeps the main gate from being seen from the outside. The gate leads to an inner vaulted space with more turns that, at the end, opens up so that defenders could control all access and respond from above to an attack. In this covered corridor there are two access points: one leading to the ground and underground floors of the Tower of Homage, and the other to the top of the wall and to the tower itself through a narrow and steep vaulted staircase.
The Alcazaba was also a residential area for the royal guard of the Sultan who controlled and patrolled the palatial city. It was actually a small city, with an urban distribution similar to that of any district of a Hispanic-Muslim city. A narrow road traverses the enclosure, dividing it into two well differentiated areas.
To the north, walls and pavements are grouped following an irregular pattern with houses of different sizes: the houses were tenanted by the royal guard that lived in the enclosure with their families. On the other side, walls similar to those of the houses follow a more regular pattern, with larger open courtyards, with evidence of the presence of warehouses or halls for the soldiers and younger guards.
Of the outlying buildings, the foremost in interest is the Palacio de Generalife or "Garden of the Architect". This villa probably dates from the end of the 13th century but has been restored several times. Its gardens, however, with their clipped hedges, grottos, fountains, and cypress avenues, are said to retain their original Moorish character.
In the Generalife gardens you will find an enchanted atmosphere and ambience I expected from the Alhambra. The palaces and buildings were all wonderful but in the Generalife you can wander and find little corners all for yourself. The gardens were designed with certain ideas in mind to create a sense of harmony and beauty which is meant to soothe the soul and nourish the spirit. Here you will find almost a mini outdoor version of some aspects of the palaces: courtyards enclosed behind high hedges; patios and cypress trees and water in abundance. The gardens are a glorious combination of greenery, water, light and shadow and the higher you climb the better the views get. Eventually you come to the point where you are looking down on the walls and towers of the Alhambra
You now need to head up the stairs into the Summer Palace. The first patio you come across is the Patio de la Acequia, built around a long rectangular pool with jets of water. From there you pass into the Patio de la Sultana where you will find the trunk of a 700 year old cyprus tree where legend has it that Abu al-Hasan caught his favorite harem girl, Zoraya, with the leader of the Abencerraj family, which led to the family being murdered at a banquet in the Sala de los Abencerrajes at the Nasrid Palace. From here you go to the upper gardens where you can see the Escalera del Agua (water staircase).