Retracing our steps across the Patio de la Mezquita, we reach the spacious Court of the Myrtles or of the Fish-pond (Patio de los Arrayanes, or de la Alberca). This is the court first entered by the visitor through the modern entrance. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the palace, and gives a foretaste of the glories that lie beyond. One feels immediately transported to the East. “The originality of the architecture [says Don Francisco Pi Margall], the airy galleries, its rich alhamis or alcoves, the splendid apartments of which glimpses are obtained through its arches, the fountains and foliage, the reflection of its stuccoed walls in the waters of the pond, the murmur of the breezes that agitate the dense myrtles, the transparency of the sky, the silence that reigns all about—all oppress the soul at the same time, and leave us for some moments submerged in a sea of sensations which reveal to us little more than the harmony of the whole scene.” The court forms an oblong, bounded at the north and south by two galleries supported on eight columns of white marble, and to the east and west by walls pierced with doors and twin-windows covered with arabesques, but differing in degree of ornamentation. At each angle we find an alhami or alcove, where the Moors were accustomed to laze away the day, extended on rich carpets and divans. The walls of these little places are encrusted with reliefs in stucco, their roofs are of the stalactite pattern. Along the middle of the court extends the alberca or fish-pond, its margins hidden by orange trees and myrtles. The clear water gushes up into two round basins at either end. To the north, the prospect is closed by the battlemented Tower of Comares, to the south by the walls of the Palace of Charles V. Through one of the entrances can be seen the fountain in the Patio de los Leones. The court is redolent of the languor, voluptuousness, and splendour of the East.
Each arcade is composed of seven semicircular arches, the central one reaching up to the cornice, while the others, much lower, are closed with perforated woodwork or lattices. The roof of the southern gallery is of artesonado or troughed form, and bears seven small cupolas; over the central arch of the northern gallery is a single cupola painted with little gold stars on a blue ground.
In this court there are numerous inscriptions, of which the following are the most important.
“Go and tell true believers that Divine help and ready victory are reserved for them.”
“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 noontide of his glory even unto the period of his decline.”
In the Patio de la Alberca is an arch differing altogether from all others in the Palace. Only one surface is decorated, and that with a principal or guiding figure made out by colours. The ornaments approximate more closely than is usual in Moorish architecture to natural forms, and the arch has very much of a Persian character.
This court is believed to have constituted the division between the male apartments, frequented by the general public, which we have already described, and the Harem, or private quarters, including the Patio de los Leones, &c.
We pass through a beautiful arch decorated with tasteful floral designs, into the Sala de la Barca, or ante-room of the Hall of Ambassadors. This fine apartment, formerly radiant with colours, was seriously damaged in the fire of 1890. The ceiling of this hall, 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.”