Part 8

the Moorish kings, as indicated both by the inscriptions on the walls, and the extraordinary care bestowed upon the decoration of the recess.

The Mosaic dados present a great variety in their patterns, the combinations being endless.

“The colours of blue, red, and gold are still to be seen on the capital of the column of the centre window of the Hall, but no traces of gold, or any colour, have been discovered

on the shaft. The same thing occurs in the Court of the Fish-pond and the Court of the Lions, but, in each case, the harmony of the colouring appears to require that they should be gilt. It is probable that in the restorations which the Palace underwent during the residence of the Spanish kings, it was found much more easy to remove the gold from the columns, exposing the white marble, than to incur the expense of re-

gilding.” Such is the opinion of the famous decorative artist, Owen Jones; but the fondness of the Oriental for the spotless purity of marble, and the transparency of alabaster, so oft expressed in the inscriptions, forbids its acceptance.

In the several alcoves, or divans, which surround the Hall, the walls are covered with plaster ornaments in relief, presenting the greatest variety; the patterns in each divan being different.

Beneath this Golden Saloon is a network of dungeon-like passages, by which, it is said, Sultáns escaped in treasonable revolts, when angry scimitars were glittering in the fountain-courts, or when the incensed populace were tossing their threatening spears in the humming city below. Here is also a prison-cell sort of room, with whispering holes at each end, which

Philip the Second built to amuse the wretched child, Don Carlos. Also a vaulted cellar, where some rude sculpture has been immured by the prudish monks.

PATIO DE LA MEZQUITA--COURT OF THE MOSQUE.

The exquisite façade of this Court is much disfigured by a modern gallery. From the portions which remain, however, the general design may be traced with tolerable certainty.

The inscriptions are few and unimportant, consisting, for the most part, of the constantly-recurring motto: “There is no Conqueror but God,” and some verses from the Koran.

The grand Mosque of the Alhambra was built in 1308 by Mohammed III., and was in good preservation until the occupation of the French, who, says Don Pascual de Gayángos, entirely destroyed it. It has been thus described by _Ibnu-l-Khattíb_, the Grand Wizír of Yúsuf I.: “It is ornamented with Mosaic work, and exquisite tracery of the most beautiful and intricate patterns, intermixed with silver flowers and graceful arches, supported by innumerable pillars of polished marble; indeed, what with the solidity of the structure, which the Sultán inspected in person, the elegance of the design, and the beauty of the proportions, the building has not its like in this country; and I have frequently heard our best architects say that they had never seen or heard of a building which can be compared to it.”

LA MEZQUITA--THE MOSQUE.

The old Mosque, afterwards a chapel, was “purged” and consecrated by Ferdinand and Isabella, and retains but few traces of its purpose during the Moorish Dominion. The door was once overlaid with bronze, and, like all the rest of the Palace, was stripped and spoiled by generations of guardian thieves, who allowed no one but themselves to steal. Above the door is still the exquisite-laced niche where the Korán used to be placed by the green-turbaned Moollahs. Near the entrance is an elaborate and beautiful niche, which was probably the _Mihráb_, or sanctuary of the Mosque. Whilst at his prayers in this _Mihráb_, the martyred Yúsuf--he who built the Gate of Justice in 1348, and who completed the Alhambra--fell a victim to the dagger of an assassin in the year 1354. The inscriptions in the Mosque, which were dumb to the conquerors, still protest for the old faith, and cry aloud from barge-board and netted rafter, “Be not one of the negligent.” “God is our refuge in every time of trouble.”

LOS BAÑOS--THE BATHS.

The plan of these Baths is very similar to the arrangement still used throughout the East.

From the elegant little saloon at the entrance where the bathers unrobed, and whither they resorted after the bath, we pass, by a circuitous passage, in which are two smaller baths, into the general vapour-bath, paved with white marble, and lighted with openings in the form of stars, lined with glazed earthenware. This corresponds with the apartment called by the Arabs the _hararah_, or vapour-bath, and described in Lane’s _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_; and it was under the graceful arcades which support the dome that the bathers

underwent the attentions of the _masseuses_ who waited on them. From the great hall we pass into a smaller one, having at each end a marble tank, used for solitary ablutions. Beyond, at the present day, an accumulated heap of ruins prevents the recognition of the means for heating the bath.

The upper part of the Chamber of Repose, which is supported on marble columns, forms a gallery with small divans, in which two persons, or, at most, four, could be accommodated at

the same time; from which it would appear that the bath was confined entirely to the use of the sovereign and his hareem. The floor is paved with beautiful Mosaics, which are in perfect preservation.

Inscription: “What is most to be wondered at is the felicity which awaits men in this palace of delight.”

Los Baños are well preserved, for they lie out of the way of ordinary ill-usage. The vapour-bath is lighted from above by small lumbreras, or “louvres.”

GARDEN OF “LINDARAJA.”

The _Mirador_--Prospect-chamber--of “Lindaraja” overlooks this secluded little court or garden, with its alabaster fountain, its cypress, orange, and citron trees rising from trim

hedges of myrtles and roses. The _Mirador_ is a charming little apartment of fifteen feet by ten feet, or thereabouts, with three tall windows protected by _jalousies_. It is ordinarily and

erroneously pointed out as the residence of Washington Irving during his abode in the Palace in 1829. His apartments were, however, in the Mihráb Tower, now known as the _Tocador de la Reina_.

TOCADOR DE LA REINA--THE QUEEN’S DRESSING-ROOM--

so called by the Spaniards, is about nine feet square. It was,

in part, modernised and painted in arabesque by Charles V. In a corner is a marble slab drilled with holes, through which, it is said, perfumes were wafted while the Queen was dressing.

It is not unimportant to locate precisely the dwelling-place of Washington Irving during his sojourn in the Alhambra in 1829. It was in the suite of rooms annexed to the Queen’s Dressing-room that he took up his quarters. The kindly American genius, who regarded Englishmen as his own kith and kin, makes it quite plain. He says: “On taking up my abode in the Alhambra, one end of a suite of empty chambers of modern architecture, intended for the residence of the

Governor, was fitted up for my reception. It was in front of the Palace.... I was dissatisfied with being lodged in a modern apartment.... I found, in a remote gallery, a door, communicating apparently with an extensive apartment, locked against the public.... I procured the key, however, without

difficulty; the door opened to a range of vacant chambers of European architecture, though built over a Moorish arcade.... This fanciful suite of rooms terminated in an open gallery with balustrades, which ran at right angles with a side of the garden. The whole apartment had a delicacy and elegance in its decorations, and there was something so choice and sequestered in its situation along with this retired little garden, that it awakened an interest in its history. I found, on inquiry, that it was an apartment fitted up at the time when Philip V. and the beautiful Elizabeth of Parma were expected at the Alhambra, and was destined for the Queen and the ladies of her train. One of the loftiest chambers had been her sleeping-room; and a narrow staircase leading from it ... opened to the delightful belvedere, originally a _mirador_ of the Moorish Sultanás, but fitted up as a boudoir for the fair Elizabeth, and which still retains the name of the _tocador_ or toilette of the Queen. The sleeping-room I have mentioned, commanded from one window a prospect of the Generalife and its embowered terraces.... I determined at once to take up my quarters in this apartment. My determination occasioned great surprise ... but I was not diverted from my humour.”

TORRE DE LOS SIETE SUELOS--TOWER OF THE SEVEN STAGES.

This Tower is said to descend seven stories under ground. Four subterranean chambers have been investigated. Divers marvellous tales are related concerning this building, in which the Moorish kings are believed to have deposited their treasures. Here, according to fable, is heard the clash of arms, and of soldiers seen stationed to guard immense treasures.

LA TORRE DE LOS PICOS--THE TOWER OF THE PEAKS--

is a Moorish postern gate crowned with minarets. The openings in the Tower for dropping missiles upon assailants are of the time of the Catholic Sovereigns. It is said that the

French intended to blow up this Tower--the holes made by the sappers yet remain--but the procrastination of their agents saved the building. From this postern, a path, crossing the ravine, leads up to the _Generalife_.

TORRE DE COMARES--TOWER OF COMARES.

The whole interior of this gigantic Tower is occupied by the Hall of the Ambassadors which is described _supra_.

TORRE DE LA VELA--THE WATCH-TOWER.

Here, an inscription records, the Christian flag was first hoisted by the Cardinal Mendoza and his brother. The panorama from the roof of this Tower is glorious. Below, lies Granada, belted with plantations; beyond, expands the Vega, guarded like an Eden by a wall of mountains. It is a scene for painters to sketch and for poets to describe.

The _Torre de la Vela_ is so called, because on this _watch-tower_ hangs a silver-tongued bell, which is heard on a still night even at Loja, thirty miles away. The bell is rung on 2nd January, the anniversary of the surrender of Granada. Maidens come on this day to strike the bell, which act ensures a

husband, and of excellence in proportion to the noise made, which, it need not be said, is considerable and continuous.

TORRE DE LAS INFANTAS--TOWER OF THE INFANTAS.

TORRE DEL CAUTIVO--CAPTIVE’S TOWER.

On the north-east wall of the fortress are several towers partly in ruin, which retain traces of beautiful decorations in the interior. The _Torre del Cautivo_ and the _Torre de las Infantas_ are the best preserved. They appear to have formed detached habitations complete in themselves; and from their position in this retired part of the fortress, and the extreme beauty of the internal decorations, there can be little doubt that they were isolated residences of favourite Sultanás.

TORRE DEL HOMENAGE--HOMAGE TOWER.

The Homage Tower rises at the end of the _Pelota_, or Fives, Court, the wall of which much disfigures the Place of the Cisterns. In this Homage Tower is a Roman votive altar, embedded by the Moors in the masonry, inscribed by “the grateful Valerius to his most indulgent wife, Cornelia.”

TORRE DE LA AQUA--TOWER OF THE AQUEDUCT.

Close to the two Towers, _Del Candil_ and _De la Cautiva_, is the corner Tower _De la Aqua_, where an aqueduct, stemming the ravine, supplies the hill with water.

THE LADIES’ TOWER.

The interior of the Ladies’ Tower was formerly remarkable for an alcove of extraordinary beauty. The Tower is isolated, and, unfortunately, a tourist purchased it for a trifling sum. After stripping the marvellous decoration--a masterpiece of Yúsuf I.--the aforesaid traveller magnanimously presented the denuded carcass to the State.

THE MUSEUM.

In a chamber near to the entrance of the Court of the Lions, a collection of Moorish remains has been brought together. A conspicuous object is the marble sarcophagus, or tank, brought from the _Alcazába_, with basso-relievos of animals;

among them the “deer-slaying lion,” which occurs so often in Greek art, and, like the Mithraic daughter of the bull, may be the symbol of some hieratic mystery, possibly the triumph of the evil principle. It is difficult to say whether this rude

sculpture is antique or Moorish. An Arabic inscription is carried round the border, but this may be later than the carving; at all events, stags are animals connected by the Orientals with the fountain--“As the hart panteth for the water-brooks”--and the Spanish Moors, among other departures from strict Moslem rules, did not reject either paintings or carvings of living objects. The splendid vase, _el jarro_, has been brought hither from the Hall of the Two Sisters, and is described at page 76, with a plate at page 95.

PALACE OF CHARLES V.

On one side of the _Plaza de los Algibes_--Place of the

Cisterns--is an isolated Moorish tower called _La Torre del Vino_, built in 1345, by Yúsuf I., and remarkable for its exquisite arch, called the “Wine Gate” (see page 133). Opposite is the large Palace begun by Charles V., great in conception and impotent in conclusion, unfurnished and roofless. To make way for this edifice, Charles destroyed large portions of what the Moors had raised, tearing down whole ranges of the Alhambra.

This pile of buildings, commenced for Charles V., was never finished, in consequence of his frequent absence, occasioned by the almost perpetual wars in which he was engaged, particularly in his efforts to suppress the insurrections of the Moors in the Alpujarras, and elsewhere.[12] The spot chosen for

the site of the Palace commands a most beautiful view of the city of Granada, as well as its surrounding _Vega_. As a specimen of Spanish architecture, it reflects the highest credit on Pedro Machuca, who began it in 1526. It is, in every way, adapted to the climate; and its interior, which, in its chief feature, takes a circular form, is spacious and splendid. In any other situation the Palace of Charles V. would justly excite admiration: but here it is misplaced. With all its grandeur and architectural excellence, Washington Irving could only look upon the structure as “an arrogant intrusion.” It is falling rapidly to decay. The walls are crumbling, the wood-work is rotten, and the splendid apartments--all that resulted from an intention to eclipse the palace of the Moslem kings--are given up to bats and owls.

This projected Palace, begun in 1526, progressed slowly until 1633, and was then abandoned. Whatever beauty there is in the Spanish Palace at Granada, is external. On the other hand, the Moors were content with the beauty of the interior of the Alhambra.

The Generalife.

The Generalife is called by the Spaniards _Cuarto Real_, signifying a diminutive royal palace--an appanage, or “fourth part” of the Alhambra.

In point of situation, the royal villa, or “pleasaunce,” of the Moorish Kings of Granada, is fully equal to the site chosen for the erection of the Alhambra. It stands upon an acclivity, behind which are lovely gardens, extensively timbered with trees of gigantic growth, where nightingales sing themselves hoarse in shrubberies rendered luxuriant by soft, refreshing rivulets. In the Generalife may be seen many Cufic inscriptions: the white tiles with golden scrolls occur nowhere else. The _Cuarto Real_ and its beautiful gardens once belonged to Dalahorra, mother of “Muley Hasen,” and within three months of the capitulation of Granada they were ceded to Alonzo de Valiza, prior of Santa Cruz of Avila. Ford made an abstract of the original conveyance by which we learn how Alonzo de Valiza took possession. “Don Alonzo entered the garden pavilion, affirming loudly that he had made an entry; next, he opened and shut the door, locking it, and giving the key into the custody of one _Macafreto_, a well-known householder of Granada; he then went into the garden, where he severed the branch of a tree and dug up some earth with a spade, thus exercising his rights of proprietorship.” Such was the practice of conveyancing in the time of the Moors.

A gateway of the _Cuarto Real_, called _Puerta del Pescado_, is of Moorish origin, and has three arches.

A picturesque ravine divides the hill of the Alhambra from the _Sierra del Sol_. Here, the approach is under a high embowered avenue of fig trees and myrtles. The situation of the Generalife--_Jennatu-l-’arif_--[13] “The Garden of the Architect”--proved so entrancing to the Sultán _Isma’il-Ibn Faraj_ that he was not at rest until he had erected this mountain villa as an abode for the “Light of his Hareem,” a summer-house, devoted to seclusion, pleasure, and luxury:

“When free and uncrown’d as the Conqueror rov’d By the banks of that lake, with his only belov’d, He saw, in the wreaths she would playfully snatch From the hedges, a glory his crown could not match, And preferr’d in his heart the least ringlet that curl’d Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world.”

_Tom Moore._

Once again the pages of the Grand Wizír _Ibnu-l-Khattíb_ furnish testimony at first hand of transactions in which his ungrateful master, Mohammed V., was involved, and who owed his safety to an accidental visit to the Generalife.

A conspiracy, having for its object the dethronement of Mohammed V., and the usurpation of his half-brother, Isma’il, succeeded only too well. The mother of Isma’il, soon after the death of Yúsuf I., when Mohammed had rightfully ascended the throne of Granada, created a party against the monarch, and had attached to her faction all the discontented. The castle of the Alhambra was surprised in August, 1359. The conspirators, having liberated Isma’il from his place of confinement, mounted him upon a horse and proclaimed him through

the city as their Sultán. How Mohammed had the good fortune to escape is thus set forth by his Wizír:

“At the time these events were taking place, the Sultán Mohammed was absent from the Alhambra, having gone, together with a son of his, to reside at a delightful country seat close to Granada, called _Jennatu-l-’arif_, a spot well known for the luxuriance of its trees, which never admit the rays of the sun,