ALHA.MBRA, an ancient palace of the Mohammedan kings of Granada, situated on a hill which runs out to the east of the town, and surrounded by strong walls flanked by square towers. These walls were built of a kind of cement formed of red clay and large pebbles, which, being exposed to the action of the weather, quickly acquired the solidity and hardness of stone.
The beauties of this magnificent specimen of Arabian taste and splendour, have been described at great length by Swinburn and other writers, who express the highest admira tion of the exquisite taste displayed throughout the whole.
In visiting the Alhambra, the traveller ascends through a wood of lofty elms, whose interlaced branches shelter him from the sun's rays, to the Gates of Justice, and passes beneath its horse-shoe arch, so characteristic of its Arabian architecture, to the Plaza de los A.Igibes, or • Square of Cisterns.
On the east side of this Plaza is the palace of Charles V., a beautiful specimen of the style of the fifth century, by Alonzo Berrequette. On the north is the Mesuar, or com mon bathing-court, 150 feet long and 56 wide, paved with white marble, and its walls covered with arabesques of the most admirable workmanship.
From the Mesuar the traveller passes to the Court of the Lions, which is also paved with white marble, and measures 100 feet by 60. In the centre is a large basin of alabaster supported by twelve lions, from which rises a smaller one. From this a large body of water spouts into the air, and, falling from one basin to the other, is sent forth through the mouth of the lions. A gallery, supported by light and ele gant columns, surrounds the court ; and at each end projects a sort of portico or gallery, supported by similar columns.
The Sala de Comares was undoubtedly the richest in the Alhambra. Its walls are ornamented with arabesques of the most exquisite workmanship ; its ceiling of cedar-wood, inlaid with ivory, silver, and mother-of-pearl, while the softened light, admitted by windows sunk in the immense thickness of the wall, chastens the splendour of its richness, and enhances its surprising beauty and magnificence.
Lost in the contemplation of the charming objects which surround him on all sides, the traveller forgets the world and its dry realities, and seems transported into one of the palaces described in the Arabian Nights."