Passing round the S. side of the palace of Charles V., we cross the Plaza de los Alămos to the church of Santa María (Pl. 18; E, F, 2), which stands on the site of the Mezquita Real or Alhambra mosque.
The buildings of the Alta Alhambra (p. [79]) also present several features of interest. To the N. of Santa María we cross the Alameda, pass (on the left) the ruins of the Rauda (p. [85]) and the outside of the Court of the Lions, and then descend to the left to the Torre de las Damas (Pl. 20; E, 2), a fortified tower of the time of Yûsuf I., restored in 1907–8, with a sumptuous interior. Fine view from the Mirador (p. [87]).—A few paces to the E. lies the Carmen de Arratía, a private house with a charming garden (above the gate is the inscription ‘Mezquita árabe de la Alhambra’). The house contains a Moorish Chapel, also dating from the time of Yûsuf I., with an elegant mihrâb or prayer-niche.
Farther on in the same direction we come to the Torre de los Picos (Pl. 21; F, 2) and cross a bastion (baluarte) to the Puerta de Hierro (Pl. 22; F, 2), restored by the ‘Catholic kings’, which forms the entrance to the Alhambra from the Cuesta del Rey Chico (p. [78]).
On the margin of the plateau above this road are four towers, the two finest of which, time permitting, we may visit under the guidance of the custodian, who lives in the Torre de la Pólvora. These are the Torre de la Cautiva (Pl. 23; F, 2), the chief room in which vies with the sumptuous halls of the Alhambra palace itself, and the Torre de las Infantas (Pl. 24; F, 2), an excellent point of view.
On the S.W. margin of the plateau, beyond the Torre del Agua (Pl. 25; F, 2), where towards evening we have a splendid view of the town, the Vega, and the Sierra Nevada, is a bastion above which rises the Puerta de los Siete Suelos (Pl. 26; F, 2). By this gate Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings (p. [75]), made his final exit from the Alhambra.
d. The Generalife.
At the foot of the Cerro del Sol, to the E. of the Alhambra, about 160 ft. above the Alhambra Hill, rises the *Palacio de Generalife (Pl. E, F, 1), once the famous summer residence of the Moorish kings, and now owned by the Marquesa de Campotéjar (p. [77]). The name is a corruption of the Arabic Jennat al-Arîf, ‘garden of Arîf’, the original owner. According to the inscription it was redecorated by order of Abu’l-Walîd Ismaîl in 1319, but in 1494 it was altered and enlarged by Queen Isabella. The interior is very dilapidated; the ornamentation, which is about half-a-century earlier than that of the chief apartments in the Alhambra, is mostly whitewashed.
We ascend by the Camino del Cementerio, a continuation of the three Alhambra Park routes (p. [81]), and by the Cuesta del Rey Chico (p. [78]), and ring at the Outer Gate (Pl. 27, F, 2; adm., see p. [74]; fee to the porter, also to the gardener): A cypress-avenue leads thence to the N. to the Entrance (Pl. 28; F, 1).
The picturesque Court is still, as in Moorish times, planted with myrtle-hedges and orange-trees and intersected by a water-conduit. The buildings on the E. side date from the 16th cent.; along the W. side runs a Colonnade with pointed arches, the central door of which opens on a Mirador (Arabic manzar, i.e. belvedere), which is now a chapel. On the N. side we pass through a five-arched Gallery, and then through a three-arched Portal into a quadrangular Hall with two alcoves. Beyond this is a square room with a balcony commanding a splendid view of the Darro Valley. The modern side-rooms are uninteresting.
The *Park, to the E. of the main building and above it, was laid out in Moorish times. We first enter the Patio de los Cipreses, with a gallery built in 1584–6, and shaded with venerable cypresses. A Moorish flight of steps, with grooves for water on the balustrades, ascends to a Mirador (Pl. 29; F, 1), where we enjoy a glorious *View of Granada, the Alhambra, and the valley of the Darro.