What can I say about the Alhambra in Granada that hasn’t been written a hundred times before? I shan’t even try. Since the 9th century this striking hillside site just outside Granada has been a fortress, an Islamic palace, a Royal palace, gardens, a whole city. It’s even been an abandoned ruin. Javi’s grandmother used to come up to this abandoned place with her friends for picnics.
Now it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We tried to imagine what this place meant to those who lived here over the centuries. Southern Spain is hot. For months it’s rarely cool, even at night. Here are cool courtyards; formal canals and ponds; trickling or cascading fountains; elegant chambers with exquisitely, delicately carved tracery; slender columns; magically evanescent roof spaces reaching heavenwards.
I offer you a scrapbook of images. You can find history lessons, detailed descriptions elsewhere. I don’t offer you selfies. I left that to the – mainly younger – visitors who wanted only to pose and pose and pose again for yet another image against a beautifully wrought backdrop to which they paid no attention whatever.
You cleverly caught the essence of the place with your well chosen photographs, what memories you brought back!
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I’m glad. It’s unforgettable though, isn’t it?
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Absolutely stunning!
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Yes, it really is.
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Oh it is exquisite. Your photos really convey a lot. Thank you.
I don’t understand the travel selfie culture – hopefully it’s only a fad but I suppose it might only fade when replaced by other ways of keeping up with the social media Joneses?
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They bring out the worst in me, selfie seekers.
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How beautiful – we’ll get here one day! Loving exploring our part of Spain too. Thinking of Ellie today. x
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Thank you. It went well, apparently. Spain is great in February, non?
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Wow!! Your photos bring back lovely memories.
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Hooray! I must go again though…. so much to take in ….
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The artistry and detail are stunning! It’s so opulent and over the top. I really like the fountain with the sheep/dogs? all around it.
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That is plain offensive! They’re lions, I’ll have you know. May you be forgiven!
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Margaret… thank you for sharing your adventures. The influence of the vast Muslim empire from 1000-1500 is impressive and sadly so little is known of it in the west. When the kingdoms of Europe were fighting amongst themselves and denying rationale knowledge thought the Islamic scholars were building on the knowledge and philosophies of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I’d love to visit southern Europe and North Africa. But for now I have to let you be my guide. Enjoy your trip and keep reporting.
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Oh, I so wish we could have longer. Lovely to reconnect with you again!
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Wonderful to see it again through your lens.
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Thanks! It’s a time when I would like to be rich and famous, so I could have the place to myself….
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I’ve seen many images of the Alhambra before but you’ve captured layers of texture I’d not imagined. Definitely on the must visit one day list!
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Yes!!!! Choose winter. Summer must be unbearable.
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I was utterly entranced, standing there. And we didn’t even have the lions 🙂 🙂
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It is astonishing isn’t it?
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Absolutely! 🙂 🙂 Just reading the story of your daughter.
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Your photographs have given me greater idea of what the Alhambra looks like than any other ones I’ve seen. Thank you, Margaret. What an enchanting place!
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It’s very special. I’d love to see it with nobody there though.
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Your pictures are exquisite. For me they brought back good memories of last October. While the entire tour was long and had a lot of steps the beauty and history of The Alhambra was worth it. Thank you.
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So you have had the chance to too? It’s special isn’t it? Back home I may do another post with camera, not phone photos.
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How gorgeous and your fabulous photos have managed to exclude the crowds – well done you. I can’t imagine how wonderful it must have been to visit with friends for a picnic when it was abandoned. What an amazing privilege.
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Yes, it must have been wonderful.
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Lovely to revisit The Alhambra. It was the place that I first saw the Arabic use of water as a way of cooling a living space.
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It’s so wonderfully reviving just hearing it.
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