Galavanting in Granada Part 2

So the next morning we all woke up and headed to La Alhambra, an Arab palace in Granada.  Our guide, Juan, was amazing.  He was so informative and could explain everything to us in simple Spanish!  I get to share some of the fun little facts he gave us.

Only 300 people are allowed to enter the Alhambra each half hour.  This is so it doesn't get packed and people don't end up bumping up against the walls and ruining things.  Also, that is pronounced Al-am-bra.  DO NOT PRONOUNCE THE 'H' OTHERWISE YOU SOUND LIKE AN IDIOT.

There isn't much else I can say about this palace until I first show you......

The walls of the Alhambra are covered in designs and Arabic.

 It may look like a complicated carving job, but really none of it is stone or carved.   It is all stucco and molding.  That is why they limit the amount of people in the Alhambra per hour because stucco does not hold up well over time.  There are places in the palace where it has already fallen off of the walls.  It is such an incredible sight to see a room covered in this though.

There is Arabic written all over the walls.  There are many repeated lines, but others that say different things.  Some were the slogans of the Califah (king) that was currently ruling.  Others were religious sayings.  This one is says (and if anyone reads Arabic correct me if I'm wrong) "God is the only victor".  I really love written Arabic.  I think is such a beautiful language.

 We walked into a courtyard and Juan explained that the windows with the wood above are called jealousy windows.  This was due to the fact that the concubines were kept in those rooms in the harem.  They were known as jealousy windows and covered due to the jealousy that the harems caused the wives of the Califah!

Everything in the Alhambra is very mathematical.  All ratios for arches, windows, doorways, courtyards...etc...are based on the golden ratio.

All of the ceramic tiles that surround some rooms are hand cut and mathematical as well.

In this picture every color in the lower portion does not have an end.  They are all continuous loops.

This is one of the courtyards in the palace area.  The Alhambra is actually a VERY large complex as you can see from the pictures in the previous post.  It contains churches, the palace, a fortress, a coliseum area, a garden area, and other buildings sprinkled in.  Most of the area was destroyed by Napoleon when he came through Spain, but the palace was saved because a Spanish soldier cut the fuse to the explosives that would have destroyed the palace and saved the whole thing.

We had the rest of the day to relax, eat lunch, and then head back to check out of the hostel and jump on a bus for Cordoba!