Malaga, Granada, and the Alhambra

As I climbed out of bed to look out of the window, this beautiful sight awaited me.  As we are winding down this memorable trip, I wonder how I will adjust to views out of my windows that only change with the seasons.  Even though we have spent many days with just the sea in view, I can attest to the fact that the sea has many moods that change throughout the hours of the day.  The beauty of this early morning was an omen of the day to come. 

Our port of call was Malaga, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso.  It is in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.  David went on the included tour which took him to the Picasso museum.  The city is part of the Costa del Sol--filled with resorts, it is somewhat like a Spanish Rivera.                                     In addition to a full slate of enrichment lectures, port talks, choir rehearsals, and quilting bees, there is another activity available on board which makes all of us look forward to the sea days as a fun break from the days of exploration in our ports of call--Team Trivia.   Groups of six self-selected people meet in the auditorium every sea day for a round of 15 trivia questions.  It's fun to put our heads together to try to come up with answers, but mostly, we just find out how much we don't know.  It's also been a good chance to grow friendships.  Soooo, two of my trivia team-mates are from Canada, Donna and Gilbert.  Gilbert booked a local guide for this port of call via the internet and had room for 4 more in the group.  He asked if I would like to join them to tour the Alhambra in Granada.  He found three others who were interested.  The six of us were picked up by a local driver, Javier.  We fit comfortably in a Mercedes mini-van with three bench seats.  Javier's driving put us immediately at ease, so we sat back to enjoy the scenery and getting to know one another better  

Once again I apologize for the quality of the photos taken out of the window of a moving vehicle.  This is a poor representation of the beauty we saw in the countryside as we rode in comfort for 90 minutes to get to Granada.  We traveled for 45 minutes eastward through the Costa del Sol in sight of the ocean.  The views were spectacular--of lovely houses, terraced agricultural land with long, low greenhouses, and rolling hills dropping down to the sea.  Turning inland, we went through mountain passes past dam-created reservoirs and views of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains.

We arrived in Granada and met our guide, Frederico.  He was a lovely man, fluent in English, who was skilled in telling stories which heightened our enjoyment of what we saw.

 He quickly pointed out the little street barriers in the shape of a pomegranate and explained that the Spanish word for that fruit symbolic of fertility is "Granada".  As the tickets to tour the Alhambra are limited and sold out three months in advance, they are also for a specific time to help keep the crowds evened out during the day.  Consequently, he took us on a walking tour of the old city and started to build the story and the anticipation of what we would experience once there.

The Iberian Peninsula was invaded in 711 AD by the Muslims, whose hold gradually eroded as a result of the Reconquista, or rechristenizing, of the country, until by 1250, only Granada remained in their hands.  In 1492 the last emir of the Nasrid Dynasty, Muhammad XII surrendered to the Christian Spanish Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. The remaining Muslims were required to leave Spain or convert to Christianity.  What became known as the Spanish Inquisition then began under Ferdinand and Isabella.  It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and identify heretics among Jews and Muslims who had converted.  Frederico pointed out a four-foot tall metal cross on one street corner, then took us to this cafe.  He explained that during the Inquisition, the officials looked for evidence of devout behavior.  Placing a cross in front of one's house or business was a way of evidencing one's faithfulness, as was making it clear that one's diet did not restrict the eating of pork.  He said the habit of hanging ham from the ceiling in the cafe or home is a tradition that comes from the time of striving to prove the thoroughness of one's conversion.  

The foundations of the Granada Cathedral were laid from 1518-1523 atop the site of the city's main mosque as part of the effort to literally bury the muslim influence of the past.  After 181 years of building on the cathedral it stopped short, for financial reasons, of completing the two 81-meter towers that had been planned.  We weren't able to take photos inside, but it was massive.

From there we walked to this beautiful building that was the remains of the last madrasa of Granada. It was the Muslim seat of learning, or university, where subjects ranged from poetry to medicine.  Frederico told us that much of what we know about the days of the sultans in Granada is from writings of poets that survived the book burning during the Inquisition.  Many of the poets were commissioned to write in glowing terms about the sultan as the person closest to God, but a few surviving poems are less glowing in their descriptions. 

We then went into the plaza of this building containing a well where long ago, the camels came to drink upon the arrival of their caravan.  Frederico indicated that it had been used as a home for the concubines of the sultan who had "aged out" of favor.  He said they then took on jobs of responsibility in the community such as the collection of taxes and monitoring the measuring weights of the local merchants.  

As we were nearing our scheduled time at the Alhambra, we got back into the minivan to ride up to the hilltop complex. We went first to the gardens which were installed in 1930.  Frederico said that originally, the area around the fortress was devoted to vegetable and herb gardens and orchards, not to ornamental plantings.  

Walking through the gardens brought new scenes of beauty around every corner.  Even the walk-ways were whimsical and charming.

There are still vegetable plantings outside the walls, like this pea-patch.  Alhambra means "the red one" which makes sense looking at the fortress walls.  A precursor to the current complex was built in 889 on the remains of a Roman fortress, then ignored until the a sultan of the Nasrid Dynasty renovated it in the mid-13th century.  It was made into a royal palace in 1333.  When the Muslim dynasty fell in 1492, it was converted into the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella and partially altered in the Renaissance style.  

Adjacent to the fortress walls is this Palacio de Generalife, a translation of the Arabic, "Garden of the Architect".  

 The complex is surrounded by a dry moat.  At it's height, the Alhambra walls sheltered a small city with mosques, shops, residences, and bathhouses.

When Charles V came along in 1526, he commissioned a new Mannerist style palace befitting the Holy Roman Emperor.  After walking half-way around this square building, it was quite surprising when we walked in the door.

The interior of the Charles V palace is round and is reminiscent of the Roman colosseum.  It was never finished because the money was needed for military campaigns.

Frederico led us through paths and doorways as we would have walked if we came to appear before the sultan.  As we stood before this entrance, he tried to show us some of the reasons the Alhambra is so beautiful.  This wall is built using the "golden ratio" or in this case, a relationship of height to width of 7 X 5.  He pointed out that the golden ratio is found in nature and has been known to be aesthetically pleasing since ancient times. 

         I was certainly pleased by all the places where graceful arches framed the surrounding views.

In addition to the overall beauty of the gardens and buildings, I love the details of the decorations.  The tiles which lined many lower walls seemed like inspiration for future quilts.  M.C. Escher visited in 1922 and gained his inspiration for his tessellations.  

Here is the Court of the Myrtles.  Above the "horse shoe" arches is the later Renaissance tower with its defensive crenelations.  Frederico painted the picture of a visitor having traveled many dusty miles being greeted with this peaceful expanse of water.  The sultan's palace as an oasis would heighten the visitor's belief that the owner was closer to God.  

The Hall of the Ambassadors was the great reception room.  The sultan sat on his throne in the center archway opposite the door.  The approaching visitor would be so blinded by the sunlight coming in behind the sultan, that he wouldn't be able to see his face, further heightening a sense of mystery and wonder.

The ceilings were largely made of carved and pieced wood with a heavenly star pattern.  The one in the Hall of the Ambassadors is on the lower right.  It has seven rows of stars taking the viewer into "seventh heaven". 

The Court of the Lions surrounds an alabaster fountain which rests on the backs of 12 lions.

 The lions, symbols of strength, power and sovereignty, have internal hydraulics that enable the constant stream of water coming out of their mouths.

The molded decorations on the walls use both the arabesque style of intertwined flowers and leaves, and calligraphy made of Arabic phrases in a decorative font.  

The conquering Christians sometimes made their mark on the palace with a kind of graffiti placed on or over the original decorations.

The view of a historic part of Granada was charming.  The tall, thin cypress trees are such a visual contrast to the brown and white rectangular buildings.  I would love to have another chance to explore this city in greater detail.

Here is our intrepid group of explorers: L-R is Tim, Bob, Carolyn, (Roary), Donna, Gilbert, and me.

After our very memorable day at the Alhambra, we retraced our steps through the mountains and along the Costa del Sol to the ship which sailed out of Malaga shortly thereafter.

The captain told us we would pass the Rock of Gibraltar just after 10:00 that evening.  Yet another of the world's fabled passages that we have traversed.