Chapter I: I I I I I. Other baths and apartments. The lines a a a a

_a_ _a_ _a_ _a_ _a_ _a_ _a_ designate steps by which the bathers
descended into the water.

K. The great Hall of the Baths.

No. 42.

Cornice to the roof, Court of The Mosque.]

No. 43.

Divan, Court of The Fish Pond.]

No. 44.

Actual state of the Colours.]

No. 45.

Windows in the Alcove, Hall of The Two Sisters.]

No. 46.

The Vase.]

No. 47.

Details of one of the Arches, Hall of Justice.]

No. 48.

Details of the Arches, Hall of the Abencerrages.]

No. 49.

Centre Painting on the Ceiling, Hall of Justice.]

ought to be flat, and are not now Moorish; do not pause to imagine the pierced marble balustrade that once walled-in this bathing-place of the dark-skinned people; nor picture glowing Bathsebas--Rubens’ group of floating, and laughing Sultánas, with female black slaves watching their gambols from under the shady portico. Air and water are the perpetual treasures of this place, and I tasted them both gratefully as I strode under the pointed arches, away from the burning lashes of the sun that drove me under cover.”

The transverse section of the Court, looking towards the palace of Charles V. (see p. 356), forms a beautiful arcade: the slender columns which support the arches would appear unequal to their superincumbent weight were not the spandrils lightened by perforations. The construction of these arches is remarkable for its simplicity. Over the columns, which are of white marble, are built brick piers, and the spandrils of the arches are filled in with tiles placed diagonally. To these are attached perforated plaster ornaments, which give a singularly light and elegant appearance to the arches, and at the same time, by freely admitting currents of air, distribute a delicious coolness through the Courts.

It will be observed that the ornaments in plaster, with which the walls of the Court of the Fish-pond are covered, are in a better state of preservation than similar decorations in other parts of the Palace.

The windows over the entrance doorway are formed of ribs of plaster, and it is thought that these were once filled with stained glass. No traces of such glazing can now be discovered; the conjecture seems to have arisen from the fact that a wall here, next the Hall of Ambassadors, has similar blank windows in which small spaces are painted of various colours. Between the windows, and at the angles, are four escutcheons of the Kings of Granada with the oft-repeated motto: “There is no Conqueror but God;” the whole being enclosed within a cipher, formed by the word signifying “Grace” written twice in Cufic characters, and so interwoven that it may be read from right to left, and from left to right. On the ribs of the window is the word signifying “Blessing,” in Cufic characters, with this peculiarity, that the first two letters are enclosed within a cipher formed by the two last. This device also is so ingeniously written that the word may be read both ways. On six escutcheons, at the sides, the word signifying “Blessing” is treated in the same skilful manner.

Immediately over the Mosaic under the gallery is an inscription of twelve verses in African characters, full of Oriental hyperbole, but perhaps inferior in composition to those already selected from the Hall of The Two Sisters.

Under the galleries, at the north and south ends of the Court, are four recesses, profusely ornamented, elaborate, and

beautiful; well preserved, and retaining much of their original colour.

From amongst the inscriptions of the Court of the Fish-pond it may be permitted to print two or three:

“Go and tell true believers that Divine help and ready victory are reserved for them. (From the sixty-first chapter of the Koràn).

“I am like the nuptial array of a bride, endowed with every beauty and perfection.

“Truly, Ibn Nasr is the sun, shining in splendour;

“May he continue in the noon-tide of his glory even unto the period of his decline.”

In the Court of the Fish-pond is an arch which differs in character from all others existing in the Alhambra: it has the peculiarity of presenting one surface only of decoration, with a principal or guiding figure made out by colours. The ornaments bear a much nearer resemblance to natural forms than in other parts of the Palace; and the whole arch has more of the Persian character of decoration.

PATIO DE LOS LEONES--THE COURT OF THE LIONS.

“From the lower end of the Court of the Alberca,” says Irving, “we passed through a Moorish archway into the renowned Court of Lions. There is no part of the edifice that

gives a more complete idea of its original beauty and magnificence, for not any portion has suffered so little from the ravages of time. In the centre stands the fountain famous in song and story. The alabaster basins still shed their diamond drops; and the twelve lions which support them cast forth their crystal streams as in the days of Boabdil. When one looks upon the fairy tracery of the peristyles, and the apparently fragile fret-work of the walls, it is difficult to believe that so much has survived the wear and tear of centuries, the shocks of earthquake, the violence of war, and the quiet, though no less baneful, pilferings of the tasteful traveller: it is almost sufficient to excuse the popular tradition, that the whole is protected by a magic charm.”

The Court of the Lions, takes its name from the fountain in the centre supported by twelve sculptured lions. The Court is a parallelogram of 100 feet by 50 feet, and is surrounded by a portico, with small pavilions at either end. The portico and pavilions consist of 128 columns, supporting arches of the most delicate and elaborate construction, which still retain much of their original beauty. The irregularity in the arrangement of the

columns, which are placed sometimes singly, and sometimes in pairs, does not detract from the general harmony; but, on the contrary, a charming effect is produced by this capricious departure from uniformity. The capitals, though similar in outline, offer a great variety in their foliage; and though the same design is more than once repeated in this Court, no attempt appears to have been made towards a symmetrical arrangement.

The ceiling of the portico is decorated in the most complex manner, the stucco being laid on with inimitable delicacy--it is so cunningly handled as to exceed belief.

The walls are covered, to a height of five feet, with tiles of blue and yellow chequy, with a border of small escutcheons enamelled blue and gold, bearing an Arabic motto on a Bend.

About each arch is arabesque work, surrounded with a rim of characters, consisting, for the most part, of verses from the Koràn. Unhappily, a modern roof of red tiles disfigures this beautiful Court, which is the most highly-prized fountain-court in the Palace.

In the centre of the Court are the twelve marble lions, conventionally treated. Supported on the backs of the animals is the beautiful basin of the fountain--in form, a dodecagon--out of which rises a lesser basin. A large volume of water falling into

the basins, once issued from the mouths of the lions to a large reservoir, whence it was conveyed to the apartments of the Palace. Notwithstanding that these lions exhibit the want of development in the art of sculpture amongst the Arabs, they yet possess a spirited, if primitive, grace.

The inscription around the basin has been variously given: the rendering of Pascual de Gayángos is regarded as the most

authoritative. The verses, which may, perhaps, consist of twelve or so, are couched in the usual double-shotted language of the Oriental. Two or three are subjoined:

“Blessed be He who gave the Imam Mohammed a mansion which in beauty excels all other mansions.

“Look at this solid mass of pearl glistening all around, which falls within a circle of silvery froth, and then flows amidst translucent jewels of surpassing loveliness; exceeding the marble in whiteness, and the alabaster in transparency.

“O thou who beholdest these lions couching, fear not; _life is wanting to enable them to show their fury_.”

The salutary warning here given irresistibly reminds one of “the shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort” with whom the mad spirit, Robin Goodfellow, made such frolic--the immortal

Athenian weaver, who opines--“To bring in--God shield us!--a lion among ladies is a most dreadful thing; for there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living.” Yet the admonition may not have been altogether superfluous amongst the beauties of the hareem, who seldom contemplated graven images. It must not be forgotten, moreover, that the Mohammedans of Spain were somewhat lax in the matter of obedience to certain precepts of the Koràn.

Centre Ornament of the Window.

Dado.

Dado.

Pilaster.

Pilasters.

No. 50.

Mosaic Dado in centre window on the N. side, Hall of Ambassadors.

The recess or divan containing these beautiful Mosaics was, doubtless, the throne of the Moorish kings. The Mosaics are as perfect as when originally executed, and seem, indeed, to be imperishable. They are formed of baked clay squeezed into moulds of the different figures, glazed on the surface.]

No. 51.

Mosaic Dados on pillars between the windows, Hall of Ambassadors.

The Mosaic Dados on the pillars of the Hall of Ambassadors present a great variety in their patterns, although the component parts are in each the same.]

Lining of one of the columns.

Pilaster.

Dado.

Dado.

Dado.

No. 53.

Mosaics in the Hall of the Two Sisters.

The beautiful Mosaic in the centre of this plate is part of the Dado of the Hall of the Two Sisters.]

Pavement of the Hall of the Baths.

No. 54.

Mosaic Dado round the internal walls of the Mosque.

Mosaics from the Mosque and the Hall of the Baths. The Mosaic Dados round the walls of the Mosque appear to be the only portions of the ancient private Mosque attached to the Palace which have been preserved intact in their original situation. The motto of the Kings of Granada, “_There is no conqueror but God_,” was replaced by “_Nec plus ultra_” of Charles V., when the Mosque was converted by him into a chapel. The beautiful Mosaic at the top of the plate is placed round the fountain of the Chamber of Repose of the Baths, described elsewhere.]

No. 55.

Azulejos. Painted Tiles.

On the floor of one of the alcoves of the Hall of Justice are to be seen the painted tiles delineated in the centre of this plate.]

No. 56.

No. 57.

Mosaics in the Baths.]

No. 58.

Mosaic from the portico of the Generalife.]

No. 59.

Blank window, Hall of the Bark.]

No. 60.

Soffit of arch, Entrance of the Hall of Abencerrages.]

No. 61.

Cornice at springing of arch of doorway at the entrance of the Ventana, Hall of the Two Sisters.]

No. 62.

No. 63.

Borders of Arches.]

No. 64.

Border of Arches.]

No. 65.

No. 66.

Borders of Arches.]

No. 67.

Ornament in panels on the wall, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 68.

Ornaments painted on the pendants, Hall of the Bark.]

(_From a drawing made about 1830_).]

THE ROOF IS A MODERN]

ONE, OF RED TILES.]

No. 69.

Bands, side of arches, Court of the Lions.]

No. 70.

No. 71.

Bands, side of arches, Court of the Lions.]

No. 72.

Ornaments on panels, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 73.

Ornaments on panels, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 74.

Ornaments on panels, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 75.

Ornaments on panels, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 76.

Frieze in the upper chamber, House of Sanchez.]

No. 77.

Cornice at springing of arches, windows of the Hall of Ambassadors.]

Although the upper parts of the walls are only coated with plaster, strengthened with reeds, centuries of neglect have not sufficed to destroy this slight, “aerie, faerie” thing of filigree, which has not even the appearance of durability. Wherever the destroyer has mutilated the fragile ornaments, “the temple-haunting

martlet, guest of summer,” builds his nest and careers in the delicate air, breaking, with his twitter, the silence of these sunny, now deserted courts, once made for Oriental delights, and even now the place in which to read the _Arabian Nights_, or spend a honeymoon--

This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve,
By his lov’d mansionry, that the heaven’s breath
Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze,
Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendent bed, and procreant cradle;
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ’d,
The air is delicate. [_Macbeth_, Act i., sc. 6]

SALA DE LA BARCA--HALL OF THE BARQUE.

Beyond where the fountain bubbles in the Court of the Fish-pond, is the oblong Hall of the Barque, which is still as radiant with colours as the edge of fading evening cloud. The rivers of poems that fret the walls sing the praises of some long dead Sultán, who conquered twenty fortresses, and whose excellence, running clear through his great deeds, was as the silk thread that carries a necklace of pearls.

“The ceiling of the Hall of the Barque,” says Owen Jones, “is a wagon-headed dome of wood, of the most elaborate patterns, receiving its support from pendentives of mathematical construction so curious, that they may be rendered susceptible of combinations as various as the melodies which may be produced from the seven notes of the musical scale; attesting the wonderful power and effect obtained by the repetition of the most simple elements.”

Alas! it must be added that this beautiful Hall was greatly injured by a fire, which took place in September, 1890.

SALA DE LOS EMBAJADORES--HALL OF AMBASSADORS.

After traversing the Hall of the Barque, we come upon the Hall of Ambassadors--the Golden Saloon--with a dome which bursts like a flower-bell upon the sight. The most

beautiful thing about these Moorish domes is, not their grand poise and balance, but the airiness of them. They seem mere resting clouds swelling round you and canopying you with colour. You have no sense of their weight or means of permanency. The stalactite ornament, as it is called, seems fashioned in emulous rivalry of golden-celled honeycomb, in which honey still rests; honey, dyed by the juices of the flowers from which it has been drawn. The walls are like the leaves of illuminated missals, framed by cornices of poem and prayer.

The Hall of Ambassadors is a square of thirty-seven feet, and is sixty feet high from the floor to the centre of the dome. It is the largest, as well as the most imposing of the Halls of the Alhambra, though in arrangement and symmetry of details less perfect than the Hall of The Two Sisters.

Inscriptions of verses from the Koràn abound amongst the decorations.

The present ceiling of the Hall of the Ambassadors is a dome of wood, ornamented by ribs intersecting each other in various patterns in gold, on grounds of blue and red. The ceiling is ingenious in construction and beautiful in detail. Owen Jones thinks that an arch of brick was originally thrown across the hall, which gave way after the completion of the building, carrying with it an earlier ceiling, which was afterwards replaced by the present dome.

In the centre divan, on the north side of the Hall, there is

a most beautiful Mosaic dado, as perfect as when originally executed, and which seems to be imperishable. It is formed of baked clay, squeezed into moulds of the different figures, glazed on the surface, and bevelled slightly on the edge. Thus, when necessary, the Mosaics were not only easily withdrawn from the moulds, but, when united, they formed a key for the mortar. In this particular recess, doubtless, was the throne of

(_From a drawing made about 1830_).]

No. 78.

From the centre arch of the Court of Lions.

No. 79.

From the entrance to the Divan, Hall of the Two Sisters.

Spandrils of Arches.]

No. 80.

Details of the wood-work of the door to the Hall of Abencerrages.]

No. 81.

No. 82.

Spandrils of Arches, Hall of Justice.]

No. 83.

Ornaments on the walls of the Hall of the Ambassadors.]

No. 84.

From the entrance to the Court of Lions from the Court of the Fish Ponds.

No. 85.

From the entrance to the Court of the Fish Ponds from the Hall of the Bark.

Spandrils of Arches.]

No. 86.

No. 87.

No. 88.

No. 89.

No. 90.

No. 91.

No. 92.

Mosaics from the Hall of Ambassadors, Hall of Two Sisters, and Hall of Justice.]

No. 93.

Plaster Ornaments, used as upright and horizontal bands enclosing panels on the walls.]

No. 94.

No. 95.

No. 96.

No. 97.

No. 98.

No. 99.

No. 100.

Mosaics from the Hall of Ambassadors, Hall of Two Sisters, Hall of Justice, and Court of the Fish Pond.]

No. 101.

Panels on walls, Tower of the Captive.]

No. 102.

Blank window, Hall of the Bark.]

No. 103.

Rafters of a roof over a doorway now destroyed beneath the Tocador de la Reyna.]

No. 104

Band at springing of arch at the entrance of Hall of the Two Sisters from the Court of Lions.]

No. 105.

Panelling of the centre recess, Hall of Ambassadors.]

No. 106.

Part of ceiling of the Portico of the Court of the Fish Pond.]

No. 107.

Blank window, Hall of the Bark.]

No. 108.

Ornaments on the walls, House of Sanchez.]

Cornice and window in the centre of the Façade of the Mosque.]

Detail of the central part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.]

Lower part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.]

the Moorish kings, as indicated both by the inscriptions on the walls, and the extraordinary care bestowed upon the decoration of the recess.

The Mosaic dados present a great variety in their patterns, the combinations being endless.

“The colours of blue, red, and gold are still to be seen on the capital of the column of the centre window of the Hall, but no traces of gold, or any colour, have been discovered

on the shaft. The same thing occurs in the Court of the Fish-pond and the Court of the Lions, but, in each case, the harmony of the colouring appears to require that they should be gilt. It is probable that in the restorations which the Palace underwent during the residence of the Spanish kings, it was found much more easy to remove the gold from the columns, exposing the white marble, than to incur the expense of re-

gilding.” Such is the opinion of the famous decorative artist, Owen Jones; but the fondness of the Oriental for the spotless purity of marble, and the transparency of alabaster, so oft expressed in the inscriptions, forbids its acceptance.

In the several alcoves, or divans, which surround the Hall, the walls are covered with plaster ornaments in relief, presenting the greatest variety; the patterns in each divan being different.

Beneath this Golden Saloon is a network of dungeon-like passages, by which, it is said, Sultáns escaped in treasonable revolts, when angry scimitars were glittering in the fountain-courts, or when the incensed populace were tossing their threatening spears in the humming city below. Here is also a prison-cell sort of room, with whispering holes at each end, which

Detail of the lateral windows in the Hall of the Two Sisters.]

Details of the front of the Mosque in the Harem.]

Details of the upper part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.]

Philip the Second built to amuse the wretched child, Don Carlos. Also a vaulted cellar, where some rude sculpture has been immured by the prudish monks.

PATIO DE LA MEZQUITA--COURT OF THE MOSQUE.

The exquisite façade of this Court is much disfigured by a modern gallery. From the portions which remain, however, the general design may be traced with tolerable certainty.

The inscriptions are few and unimportant, consisting, for the most part, of the constantly-recurring motto: “There is no Conqueror but God,” and some verses from the Koran.

The grand Mosque of the Alhambra was built in 1308 by Mohammed III., and was in good preservation until the occupation of the French, who, says Don Pascual de Gayángos, entirely destroyed it. It has been thus described by _Ibnu-l-Khattíb_, the Grand Wizír of Yúsuf I.: “It is ornamented with Mosaic work, and exquisite tracery of the most beautiful and intricate patterns, intermixed with silver flowers and graceful arches, supported by innumerable pillars of polished marble; indeed, what with the solidity of the structure, which the Sultán inspected in person, the elegance of the design, and the beauty of the proportions, the building has not its like in this country; and I have frequently heard our best architects say that they had never seen or heard of a building which can be compared to it.”

LA MEZQUITA--THE MOSQUE.

The old Mosque, afterwards a chapel, was “purged” and consecrated by Ferdinand and Isabella, and retains but few traces of its purpose during the Moorish Dominion. The door was once overlaid with bronze, and, like all the rest of the Palace, was stripped and spoiled by generations of guardian thieves, who allowed no one but themselves to steal. Above the door is still the exquisite-laced niche where the Korán used to be placed by the green-turbaned Moollahs. Near the entrance is an elaborate and beautiful niche, which was probably the _Mihráb_, or sanctuary of the Mosque. Whilst at his prayers in this _Mihráb_, the martyred Yúsuf--he who built the Gate of Justice in 1348, and who completed the Alhambra--fell a victim to the dagger of an assassin in the year 1354. The inscriptions in the Mosque, which were dumb to the conquerors, still protest for the old faith, and cry aloud from barge-board and netted rafter, “Be not one of the negligent.” “God is our refuge in every time of trouble.”

LOS BAÑOS--THE BATHS.

The plan of these Baths is very similar to the arrangement still used throughout the East.

From the elegant little saloon at the entrance where the bathers unrobed, and whither they resorted after the bath, we pass, by a circuitous passage, in which are two smaller baths, into the general vapour-bath, paved with white marble, and lighted with openings in the form of stars, lined with glazed earthenware. This corresponds with the apartment called by the Arabs the _hararah_, or vapour-bath, and described in Lane’s _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_; and it was under the graceful arcades which support the dome that the bathers

underwent the attentions of the _masseuses_ who waited on them. From the great hall we pass into a smaller one, having at each end a marble tank, used for solitary ablutions. Beyond, at the present day, an accumulated heap of ruins prevents the recognition of the means for heating the bath.

The upper part of the Chamber of Repose, which is supported on marble columns, forms a gallery with small divans, in which two persons, or, at most, four, could be accommodated at

the same time; from which it would appear that the bath was confined entirely to the use of the sovereign and his hareem. The floor is paved with beautiful Mosaics, which are in perfect preservation.

Inscription: “What is most to be wondered at is the felicity which awaits men in this palace of delight.”

Los Baños are well preserved, for they lie out of the way of ordinary ill-usage. The vapour-bath is lighted from above by small lumbreras, or “louvres.”

GARDEN OF “LINDARAJA.”

The _Mirador_--Prospect-chamber--of “Lindaraja” overlooks this secluded little court or garden, with its alabaster fountain, its cypress, orange, and citron trees rising from trim

hedges of myrtles and roses. The _Mirador_ is a charming little apartment of fifteen feet by ten feet, or thereabouts, with three tall windows protected by _jalousies_. It is ordinarily and

erroneously pointed out as the residence of Washington Irving during his abode in the Palace in 1829. His apartments were, however, in the Mihráb Tower, now known as the _Tocador de la Reina_.

TOCADOR DE LA REINA--THE QUEEN’S DRESSING-ROOM--

so called by the Spaniards, is about nine feet square. It was,

in part, modernised and painted in arabesque by Charles V. In a corner is a marble slab drilled with holes, through which, it is said, perfumes were wafted while the Queen was dressing.

It is not unimportant to locate precisely the dwelling-place of Washington Irving during his sojourn in the Alhambra in 1829. It was in the suite of rooms annexed to the Queen’s Dressing-room that he took up his quarters. The kindly American genius, who regarded Englishmen as his own kith and kin, makes it quite plain. He says: “On taking up my abode in the Alhambra, one end of a suite of empty chambers of modern architecture, intended for the residence of the

Governor, was fitted up for my reception. It was in front of the Palace.... I was dissatisfied with being lodged in a modern apartment.... I found, in a remote gallery, a door, communicating apparently with an extensive apartment, locked against the public.... I procured the key, however, without

difficulty; the door opened to a range of vacant chambers of European architecture, though built over a Moorish arcade.... This fanciful suite of rooms terminated in an open gallery with balustrades, which ran at right angles with a side of the garden. The whole apartment had a delicacy and elegance in its decorations, and there was something so choice and sequestered in its situation along with this retired little garden, that it awakened an interest in its history. I found, on inquiry, that it was an apartment fitted up at the time when Philip V. and the beautiful Elizabeth of Parma were expected at the Alhambra, and was destined for the Queen and the ladies of her train. One of the loftiest chambers had been her sleeping-room; and a narrow staircase leading from it ... opened to the delightful belvedere, originally a _mirador_ of the Moorish Sultanás, but fitted up as a boudoir for the fair Elizabeth, and which still retains the name of the _tocador_ or toilette of the Queen. The sleeping-room I have mentioned, commanded from one window a prospect of the Generalife and its embowered terraces.... I determined at once to take up my quarters in this apartment. My determination occasioned great surprise ... but I was not diverted from my humour.”

TORRE DE LOS SIETE SUELOS--TOWER OF THE SEVEN STAGES.

This Tower is said to descend seven stories under ground. Four subterranean chambers have been investigated. Divers marvellous tales are related concerning this building, in which the Moorish kings are believed to have deposited their treasures. Here, according to fable, is heard the clash of arms, and of soldiers seen stationed to guard immense treasures.

LA TORRE DE LOS PICOS--THE TOWER OF THE PEAKS--

is a Moorish postern gate crowned with minarets. The openings in the Tower for dropping missiles upon assailants are of the time of the Catholic Sovereigns. It is said that the

French intended to blow up this Tower--the holes made by the sappers yet remain--but the procrastination of their agents saved the building. From this postern, a path, crossing the ravine, leads up to the _Generalife_.

TORRE DE COMARES--TOWER OF COMARES.

The whole interior of this gigantic Tower is occupied by the Hall of the Ambassadors which is described _supra_.

SECTION ON THE LINE C. B. OF PLAN.

SECTIONS AND PLANS OF THE INFANTAS TOWER.]

TORRE DE LA VELA--THE WATCH-TOWER.

Here, an inscription records, the Christian flag was first hoisted by the Cardinal Mendoza and his brother. The panorama from the roof of this Tower is glorious. Below, lies Granada, belted with plantations; beyond, expands the Vega, guarded like an Eden by a wall of mountains. It is a scene for painters to sketch and for poets to describe.

The _Torre de la Vela_ is so called, because on this _watch-tower_ hangs a silver-tongued bell, which is heard on a still night even at Loja, thirty miles away. The bell is rung on 2nd January, the anniversary of the surrender of Granada. Maidens come on this day to strike the bell, which act ensures a

husband, and of excellence in proportion to the noise made, which, it need not be said, is considerable and continuous.

TORRE DE LAS INFANTAS--TOWER OF THE INFANTAS.

TORRE DEL CAUTIVO--CAPTIVE’S TOWER.

On the north-east wall of the fortress are several towers partly in ruin, which retain traces of beautiful decorations in the interior. The _Torre del Cautivo_ and the _Torre de las Infantas_ are the best preserved. They appear to have formed detached habitations complete in themselves; and from their position in this retired part of the fortress, and the extreme beauty of the internal decorations, there can be little doubt that they were isolated residences of favourite Sultanás.

TORRE DEL HOMENAGE--HOMAGE TOWER.

The Homage Tower rises at the end of the _Pelota_, or Fives, Court, the wall of which much disfigures the Place of the Cisterns. In this Homage Tower is a Roman votive altar, embedded by the Moors in the masonry, inscribed by “the grateful Valerius to his most indulgent wife, Cornelia.”

TORRE DE LA AQUA--TOWER OF THE AQUEDUCT.

Close to the two Towers, _Del Candil_ and _De la Cautiva_, is the corner Tower _De la Aqua_, where an aqueduct, stemming the ravine, supplies the hill with water.

THE LADIES’ TOWER.

The interior of the Ladies’ Tower was formerly remarkable for an alcove of extraordinary beauty. The Tower is isolated, and, unfortunately, a tourist purchased it for a trifling sum. After stripping the marvellous decoration--a masterpiece of Yúsuf I.--the aforesaid traveller magnanimously presented the denuded carcass to the State.

THE MUSEUM.

In a chamber near to the entrance of the Court of the Lions, a collection of Moorish remains has been brought together. A conspicuous object is the marble sarcophagus, or tank, brought from the _Alcazába_, with basso-relievos of animals;

among them the “deer-slaying lion,” which occurs so often in Greek art, and, like the Mithraic daughter of the bull, may be the symbol of some hieratic mystery, possibly the triumph of the evil principle. It is difficult to say whether this rude

sculpture is antique or Moorish. An Arabic inscription is carried round the border, but this may be later than the carving; at all events, stags are animals connected by the Orientals with the fountain--“As the hart panteth for the water-brooks”--and the Spanish Moors, among other departures from strict Moslem rules, did not reject either paintings or carvings of living objects. The splendid vase, _el jarro_, has been brought hither from the Hall of the Two Sisters, and is described at page 76, with a plate at page 95.

PALACE OF CHARLES V.

On one side of the _Plaza de los Algibes_--Place of the

Cisterns--is an isolated Moorish tower called _La Torre del Vino_, built in 1345, by Yúsuf I., and remarkable for its exquisite arch, called the “Wine Gate” (see page 133). Opposite is the large Palace begun by Charles V., great in conception and impotent in conclusion, unfurnished and roofless. To make way for this edifice, Charles destroyed large portions of what the Moors had raised, tearing down whole ranges of the Alhambra.

This pile of buildings, commenced for Charles V., was never finished, in consequence of his frequent absence, occasioned by the almost perpetual wars in which he was engaged, particularly in his efforts to suppress the insurrections of the Moors in the Alpujarras, and elsewhere.[12] The spot chosen for

the site of the Palace commands a most beautiful view of the city of Granada, as well as its surrounding _Vega_. As a specimen of Spanish architecture, it reflects the highest credit on Pedro Machuca, who began it in 1526. It is, in every way, adapted to the climate; and its interior, which, in its chief feature, takes a circular form, is spacious and splendid. In any other situation the Palace of Charles V. would justly excite admiration: but here it is misplaced. With all its grandeur and architectural excellence, Washington Irving could only look upon the structure as “an arrogant intrusion.” It is falling rapidly to decay. The walls are crumbling, the wood-work is rotten, and the splendid apartments--all that resulted from an intention to eclipse the palace of the Moslem kings--are given up to bats and owls.

This projected Palace, begun in 1526, progressed slowly until 1633, and was then abandoned. Whatever beauty there is in the Spanish Palace at Granada, is external. On the other hand, the Moors were content with the beauty of the interior of the Alhambra.

_Specially drawn for Mʳ Albert F. Calvert’s book on the Alhambra, from measurements by the late M. Jules Goury_]

The Generalife.

The Generalife is called by the Spaniards _Cuarto Real_, signifying a diminutive royal palace--an appanage, or “fourth part” of the Alhambra.

In point of situation, the royal villa, or “pleasaunce,” of the Moorish Kings of Granada, is fully equal to the site chosen for the erection of the Alhambra. It stands upon an acclivity, behind which are lovely gardens, extensively timbered with trees of gigantic growth, where nightingales sing themselves hoarse in shrubberies rendered luxuriant by soft, refreshing rivulets. In the Generalife may be seen many Cufic inscriptions: the white tiles with golden scrolls occur nowhere else. The _Cuarto Real_ and its beautiful gardens once belonged to Dalahorra, mother of “Muley Hasen,” and within three months of the capitulation of Granada they were ceded to Alonzo de Valiza, prior of Santa Cruz of Avila. Ford made an abstract of the original conveyance by which we learn how Alonzo de Valiza took possession. “Don Alonzo entered the garden pavilion, affirming loudly that he had made an entry; next, he opened and shut the door, locking it, and giving the key into the custody of one _Macafreto_, a well-known householder of Granada; he then went into the garden, where he severed the branch of a tree and dug up some earth with a spade, thus exercising his rights of proprietorship.” Such was the practice of conveyancing in the time of the Moors.

A gateway of the _Cuarto Real_, called _Puerta del Pescado_, is of Moorish origin, and has three arches.

A picturesque ravine divides the hill of the Alhambra from the _Sierra del Sol_. Here, the approach is under a high embowered avenue of fig trees and myrtles. The situation of the Generalife--_Jennatu-l-’arif_--[13] “The Garden of the Architect”--proved so entrancing to the Sultán _Isma’il-Ibn Faraj_ that he was not at rest until he had erected this mountain villa as an abode for the “Light of his Hareem,” a summer-house, devoted to seclusion, pleasure, and luxury:

“When free and uncrown’d as the Conqueror rov’d
By the banks of that lake, with his only belov’d,
He saw, in the wreaths she would playfully snatch
From the hedges, a glory his crown could not match,
And preferr’d in his heart the least ringlet that curl’d
Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world.”

_Tom Moore._

Once again the pages of the Grand Wizír _Ibnu-l-Khattíb_ furnish testimony at first hand of transactions in which his ungrateful master, Mohammed V., was involved, and who owed his safety to an accidental visit to the Generalife.

A conspiracy, having for its object the dethronement of Mohammed V., and the usurpation of his half-brother, Isma’il, succeeded only too well. The mother of Isma’il, soon after the death of Yúsuf I., when Mohammed had rightfully ascended the throne of Granada, created a party against the monarch, and had attached to her faction all the discontented. The castle of the Alhambra was surprised in August, 1359. The conspirators, having liberated Isma’il from his place of confinement, mounted him upon a horse and proclaimed him through

A. Advanced parts.

B. The Inner Gallery, commanding a view of the gardens.