There isn’t much to see inside the Alhambra’s alcazaba, but we had fun nonetheless walking along its walls and exploring the foundations of what used to be the military barracks. The soldier’s quarters seem very small to me, but if you look carefully you’ll see one of them, probably the commanding officer’s house, was large enough to have the luxury of an indoor pool.
As per tradition, we climbed the highest tower in the fort, known as the Vela Tower, to have a look at the city of Granada from above. Row upon row of white houses stretched as far as the eye can see. We liked this view of the city a lot more than we did when we were walking its streets earlier that morning. We could even get a clear view of the cathedral, which was impossible in the built-up city where the tall buildings next to it obscured its towers. But from the top of the four-storey tall bell tower, the vista was wide and beautiful.
On our way out, we walked through the Adarves gardens, which I thought was typical of what I’ve seen of Moorish architecture thus far – even their soldiers were given a respite of the heat and a place to appreciate the beauty of the city. On one of the walls in the garden there is an inscription in Spanish which Google Translate tells me means:
Give him alms, woman,
as there is nothing worse in life,
as the pain of
being blind in Granada.
For more posts in the Spain 2010 series, click here.Labels: alcazaba, Alhambra, Europe, Granada, Spain
