That portion of the Alhambra, called the Casa Real, or Royal House, appears to be but a very small part of the ancient Palace of the Moorish Kings of Granada. It is to be regretted that no traces exist at the present day by which its limits can be accurately defined; but we may judge, from the gallery of
PANELS AND INSCRIPTIONS IN THE ALHAMBRA.
two stories at the southern end of the Court of the Fish-pond, which still remains, that the part of the Moorish building destroyed to make way for the Palace of Charles V., must have been of considerable consequence. No traces of the numerous apartments, which must have been required for guards and attendants, now exist; and a most important feature—the hareem—is wanting.
The Alhambra, occupying the plateau of the Monte de la Assabica, is situated at one extremity of the city of Granada, above which it rises like the Acropolis at Athens. The usual entrance is by the Gate of Justice. From the Gate of Justice we pass the Puerta del Vino, or Wine Gate, to the large square called the Plaza de los Algibes, or Place of the Cisterns. On the right is the Palace of Charles V.; beyond, but without revealing any indication of its internal beauty, is the Casa Real; on the left of the Place of the Cisterns is the Alcazába—Kussábah, the citadel—long used as a place of detention for convicts. There are several ruined towers here, which are, perhaps, the remains of the most ancient part of the fortress.
The severe and striking aspect of the towers with which the walls of the fortress are studded, arouses no suspicion of the art and luxury enshrined within; they are formed to impress the beholder with respect for the power and majesty of the King; whilst within, the fragrant shrubs and running streams, the porcelains, Mosaics, and gilded stucco work, and particularly the pious inscriptions which are in such profusion upon the walls, constantly reminded the sovereign how all that ministered to his happiness was the gift of Allah.
The inscriptions are of three sorts—“ayát,” i.e., verses from the Korán; “asjá,” pious or devout sentences not taken from the Korán; and, thirdly, “ash’ár,” poems in praise of the builders or owners of the Palace. Those belonging to either of the first two classes are generally written in the Cufic character, and the letters are often so shaped as to present a uniform appearance from both sides, and make the inscription readable from the right to the left, and vice versa, or upwards and downwards.
The innumerable sentences abounding everywhere in the Alhambra are so harmonious and interweaving—producing such cross-lights of poetry and praise, merging naturally and gracefully when the mind is torpid or indifferent to them, into mere surface ornament—that they are never out of place, but present always an unsatiating charm. Once, at least, an inscription in the Palace has settled a dull controversy respecting the use of the many small, highly-decorated recesses which are seen in the apartments. On each side of the ante-room of the Hall of the Ambassadors is one of these recesses resembling the piscinæ of our cathedrals. Blundering wise men insistently averred that these niches were used by suppliants as receptacles for their slippers before entering to an audience, until an Arabic scholar pointed to an inscription round the aperture, which reads: “If anyone approach me complaining of thirst, he will receive cool and limpid water, sweet and pure.” Any Spaniard ought to have known that here were the places of the Alcarraza, or porous earthen bottles common to all comers, even as they may now be found in the halls of some Andalusian gentlemen.
Such a niche and water-vase are represented in this volume at page 77.