ALHAMBRA, THE, an ancient palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain, occupying a hilly terrace on the south-eastern border of the city of Granada. This terrace or plateau extends from west-north-west to east south-east, and covers an area of about 35 acres. It is enclosed by a strongly fortified wall, which is flanked by 13 towers. (For an account of the period to which the Alhambra belongs, see GRANADA [city] ). The palace was built chiefly between 1248 and 1354, in the reigns of Al Ahmar and his successors, but even the names of the principal artists employed are either unknown or doubtful. The splendid decorations of the interior are ascribed to Yusef I., who died in 1354. Immediately after the expulsion of the Moors in 1492, their conquerors began, by successive acts of vandalism, to spoil the marvellous beauty of the 'Alhambra. Charles V. (1516-56) rebuilt portions in the style of the period, and destroyed the greater part of the winter palace to make room for a structure which has never been completed. Philip V. (17oo-46) Italianized the rooms, and completed the degradation by running up partitions which blocked up whole apartments, gems of taste and patient ingenuity. In 1821 an earthquake caused further damage. The work of restoration undertaken in 1828 by the architect, Jose Contreras, was endowed in 183o by Ferdinand VII. ; and after the death of Contreras in 1847, it was continued with fair success by his son Rafael (d. 189o), and his grandson Mariano.
The situation of the Alhambra is one of rare natural beauty; the plateau commands a wide view of the city and plain of Granada, towards the west and north, and of the heights of the Sierra Nevada, towards the east and south. The park (Alameda de la Alhambra), which in spring is overgrown with wild-flowers and grass, was planted by the Moors with roses, oranges and myrtles; its most characteristic feature, however, is the dense wood of English elms brought hither in 1812 by the duke of Wellington.
The Moorish portion of the Alhambra resembles many me diaeval Christian strongholds in its threefold arrangement as a castle, a palace and a residential annexe for subordinates. The Alcazaba or citadel, its oldest part, is built on the isolated and precipitous foreland which terminates the plateau on the north west. Only its massive outer walls, towers and ramparts are left. Beyond the Alcazaba is the palace of the Moorish kings, or Alhambra properly so-called, and beyond this, again, is the Alhambra Alta (Upper Alhambra), originally tenanted by officials and courtiers.
Access from the city to the Alhambra park is afforded by the Puerta de las Granadas (Gate of Pomegranates), a massive triumphal arch dating from the 5th century. A steep ascent leads past the Pillar of Charles V., a fountain erected in 1554, to the main entrance of the Alhambra. This, is the Puerta Judiciaria (Gate of Judgment), a massive horseshoe archway, surmounted by a square tower, and used by the Moors as an informal court of justice.
The present entrance to the Palacio Arabe, or Casa Real, is by a small door from which a corridor conducts to the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles), also called the Patio de la Alberca (Court of the Blessing or Court of the Pond). This court is i4oft. long by 74ft. broad, and in the centre there is a large pond set in the marble pavement, full of goldfish, and with myrtles growing along its sides. There are galleries on the north and south sides; that on the south 27ft. high, and supported by a marble colonnade. Underneath it, to the right, was the prin cipal entrance, and over it are three elegant windows with arches and miniature pillars.
The Sala de los Embajadores (Hall of the Ambassadors) is the largest in the Alhambra, and occupies all the Torre de -Comares. It is a square room, the sides being 37ft. in length, while the centre of the dome is 75ft. high. This was the grand reception room, and the throne of the sultan was placed opposite the entrance.
The celebrated Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions) is an oblong court, ii6ft. in length by 66ft. in breadth, surrounded by a low gallery supported on 124 white marble columns. A pavilion projects into the court at each extremity, with filigree walls and light domed roof, elaborately ornamented. The square is paved with coloured tiles, and the colonnade with white marble, while the walls are covered 5ft. up from the ground with blue and yellow tiles, with a border above and below enamelled blue and gold. In the centre of the court is the celebrated Fountain of Lions, a magnificent alabaster basin supported by the figures of twelve lions in white marble, not designed with sculptural accu racy, but as emblems of strength and courage.
The Sala de los Abencerrajes (Hall of the Abencerrages) de rives its name from a legend according to which Boabdil, the last king of Granada, having invited the chiefs of that illustrious line to a banquet, massacred them here. This room is a perfect square, with a lofty dome and trellised windows at its base. The roof is exquisitely decorated in blue, brown, red and gold, and the columns supporting it spring out into the arch form in a remarkably beautiful manner. Opposite to this hall is the Sala de las dos Hermanas (Hall of the two Sisters), so-called from two very beautiful white marble slabs laid as part of the pavement. There is a fountain in the middle of this hall, and the roof—a dome honeycombed with tiny cells, all different, and said to number 5,000--is a magnificent example of the so-called "stalac tite vaulting" of the Moors.
The original furniture of the palace is represented by the cele brated vase of the Alhambra, a splendid specimen of Moorish ceramic art, dating from 132o, and belonging to the first period of Moorish porcelain.
Of the outlying buildings in connection with the Alhambra, the foremost in interest is the Palacio de Generalife or Gineralife (the Moorish Jennat al Arif , "Garden of Arif," or "Garden of the Architect"). This villa probably dates from the end of the i3th century, but has been several times restored. The Villa de los Martires (Martyrs' Villa), on the summit of Monte Mauror, commemorates by its name the Christian slaves who were em ployed to build the Alhambra, and confined here in subterranean cells.
See Plans, Elevation, Sections and Details of the Alhambra; from drawings taken on the spot by J. Goury and Owen Jones; with a complete translation of the Arabic inscriptions and a historical notice of the Kings of Granada, by P. de Gayangos. These two magnificent folios, though first published in London between 1842 and 1845, give the best pictorial representation of the Alhambra ; Rafael Contreras, La Alhambra, El Alaizar, y la gran Mezquita de accidente (Madrid, 1885) ; The Alhambra, by Washington Irving, was written in 1832, and rewritten in 1857. A well-illustrated edition was published in London in 1896.