EL GENERALIFFE.
In ancient times there was direct communication between the Alhambra and the Generaliffe, the summer palace of the Moorish sovereigns, by the Iron Door, and a narrow path running in front of it between two rows of red walls. An exquisitely-carved door, inlaid with Dutch tiles, in the lower garden of this place of recreation, leads into it. The Generaliffe was built by order of Prince Omar, and the word has been interpreted as meaning “Recreation, or Pleasure House,” and truly a more delicious and charming spot, or one with more splendid views, cannot be conceived. It is a small, white villa, with a terrace of gardens stretching from the top of the mountain to the walls of the house, which is encircled by thickets of laurel and myrtle. Flowers and myrtles, arbours and high espaliers, surmounted by arches, abound on every side, and the ears are soothed by the murmur of a hundred springs and brooklets which gurgle and bubble amid the greenery and sparkle in every open space. The noise of the distant city floats upwards with the sound of a soft hum, and the air is laden with the perfume of roses and orange blossoms.
The Cathedral of Granada is a splendid pile, but I did not inspect it during my visit. There is a Cathedral in every Spanish city one enters, but there is only one Alhambra in the world. Yet here are the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, here is the casket in which Isabella sent her jewels to the pawnbroker—the jewels that were disposed of in order to furnish Christopher Columbus with the money for the arming of the ships in which he sailed to discover the New World.
Close to the Cathedral there is a bazaar, Arabian in form and appearance, which was re-decorated in 1844 owing to the fire which occurred there the previous year. It is said that Alcaiceria signifies the house or place of Cæsar; and, according to Marmol, it is the place where public and private merchandise was stored according to the custom in Eastern towns. Before the fire this Alcaiceria preserved all its old characteristics, and was a great deal narrower than it is now, the shops being so small that the shopman had to get on the counter or outside it, as there was no room behind it. At
THE ACEQUIA COURT, FROM THE MAIN ENTRANCE.
present the Arab decoration is too artificial, and a strange incongruousness exists between the beautiful Arab columns and the angular horse-shoe arches covered with show-bills and notices advertising various articles and professional services of all kinds.
LA ALCAICERIA (GRANADA).