Name: The Alhambra Explained
Uploaded: 2026-02-08T02:28:15.000Z
Duration: 19 min 21 s
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Lets situate ourselves in medieval Spain, particularly in the area of Andalusia in the southern part of the peninsula.

This is the fortress palace of the Alhambra, a royal citadel erected above the city of Granada, the last remaining city dominated by Muslims.

They built a palace city on top of a mountain, one that would resemble paradise.

Built in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Alhambra was the work of the Nasrid dynasty, which governed the dwindling Islamic territories of southern Spain until expulsion in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabel, the monarchs, who also financed Columbus expedition across the unknown Atlantic in the the same year.

And what's so wonderful about the Alhambra is that it's not simply a building, but

the boundary between landscape and architecture seems very loose, so that suddenly you're in a courtyard, suddenly you're in a garden.

And the section that is enforced by being on top of a hill is played off very effectively, so that views through the space and movement through the space allows you to experience this landscape integrated into the architecture.

In the westernmost part of the complex we have the Alcazaba, which is the oldest part of the Alhambra.

This was built as the centerpiece of the system of fortifications to protect the area.

Its configuration occupied a triangular space contained by a wall, at the far end of which is a bastion built in the times of the Catholic monarchs.

While on the opposite side we find a wall fortified with three watchtowers.

In fact, the whole complex is entirely surrounded by a wall.

And it has several watchtowers, such as the Torre della Vela, which is the tallest and most important in the whole complex.

And just the view of the city that you have from the top of these towers is breath.

The Alcazaba had a military quarter as an urban nucleus, of which you can still see remains.

Before the palaces were built, the Alcazaba served as a residence of the rulers of the city.

And then it became purely military in character.

In the eastern part of complex, there is a part of a citadel that used to be residential and public.

The Alhambra originally enclosed an entire palace city, including common dwelling houses, craft workshops, the royal mint, several mosques and public baths.

There are all these small channels of water that run through the entire complex, which is, I think, a remarkable feature.

In the north of the complex is the most precious part of the citadel.

The Nasrid palaces, which were the residences of the Amirs, the Muslim Rulers of the city of Granada.

These palaces form a series of apartments, halls and courts, framed in a setting of arcades, fountains, and

Upon entrance, you right away notice how it's ornamented with minute surface decorations, decoration either in plaster, precious stones, or glazed tiles.

The walls are inlaid with glazed tiles to a height of 4ft, above which is a separate scheme of arabesque treatment carried out.

We must remember that Muslims only decorate it with floral and geometric patterns, and

also with their writing called calligraphy.

This is the Mexoir, which functioned as the entrance wing.

Next to it is the small courtyard with a small fountain in the middle.

And one effect that these palaces have is the peace and silence that you feel inside of them, as if you were completely isolated from the world outside, but

The whole idea of the garden is something that you see again and again in Islamic architecture.

And it's always negotiating between a geometrical definition of the garden and the kind of explosive fecundity of nature to replicate itself and to become green.

This is a Quranic description of paradise and is not so different from the Paradise Garden that we hear about in the Old Testament, with the rivers running out of a bounded precinct.

But the image of Paradise Garden is more emphatically deployed in Islamic architecture than in Christian architecture, especially in the gardens.

I think this plan helps illustrate how landscape and architecture move together.

The plan consists mainly of two oblong courts at right angles to each other.

You can see that there are several couriers organizing fairly thin bands of program around them, and

that these volumes are perched at the edge of the precipice so that they can get these dramatic views and capture the surrounding landscape.

That's part of a purview of the building, as well as the near landscape of the gardens that unfold on top of the plateau.

Every single window in the Alhambra doesn't simply exhibit a view, but

it perfectly frames the landscape in a way that makes every view as dramatic as possible.

Here is the view from one of the courtyards in the Alhambra.

You can see that it's a big palace and a big hill, and

you can see the rest of the town stretching out on the lowlands and the palace moving up the hill.

The first of these courtyards, known as the Court of Myrtles, has its longer axis placed north and south.

There's a long linear pool that shows you the integration of water into the courtyard.

This pool reflects the buildings like a great mirror of water that changes with the different tones of light throughout the day.

This spectacular element is both aesthetic and functional, because like any dwelling with human presence, this palace requires a place that contains water.

And the water is always circulating through narrow channels that irrigate the bushes.

to the north is the Tower of Comaris, inside of which the hall of the Ambassadors is located, with deeply recessed windows on three sides, giving views of the town beneath.

And you could be here in this chamber admiring the garden, but

you could also be surveilling the landscape to see if any intruders are coming.

So you have these vantage points stipulating throughout the building.

And notice that in this room, the windows have an element that is frequently used in Islamic architecture called latticework.

And latticework is very functional for places that have a warm climate, because it allows light and airflow through the area without letting in direct sunlight.

And since Islamic architecture is very introvert and introspective, latticework is also used to add privacy, as you can see through it only if you're inside of a building.

This hall is crowned by a polygonal dome with arabesque decorations.

This dome is a wooden masterpiece of craftsmanship.

It is formed by cedar wood decorations covered by interlacing patterns.

And it's a representation of the seven heavens of the Islamic paradise, with God's throne in the middle.

The other main court, the court of lions, is the most elaborate.

The pillars are alternately single and coupled and crowned with capitals peculiar to the Alhambra.

The arcading is of wood covered with richly stuccoed decoration.

It's important to mention that Islamic architecture is obsessed with integrating water into the architecture.

So water is the essential element in this incredible palace of the Alhambra.

And the combination of water and light creates a space that's a real pleasure for the senses.

In this courtyard, we find the device we saw at the Great Mosque in Cordoba.

Linear troughs of water that begin to issue forth and irrigate the garden and bring life to the garden and a fountain in the middle.

It's almost literal building of a model of the Paradise Gardens in the Quran.

A bounded precinct with water crossing through it, subdividing its world into four quadrants with these lions here.

And these fountains penetrate into these chambers on all sides and become fountains there too.

We saw in the Mosque of Cordoba the beginning of a kind of pointed arch work, this horseshoe arch or these multi foil arches.

And it's becoming even more specifically pointed.

When we get to some of the courtyard arcades here at the Alhambra, Also a type of column capital with a square upper portion and long necking was evolved.

The columns supporting these are very slender, the height being 12 diameters.

The Capitals in the Alhambra are either treated with conventional scrolls or are formed with a stalactite treatment.

Such capitals have an upward continuation of post like shape against the size of which the stilted arch abuts, being supported by a piece of stalactite corbeling.

The hall of Kings is at the eastern end of this courtyard.

It receives its name because we find paintings on the ceilings with representations of the first ten kings of the dynasty.

These are painted on leather and they have a clear influence on Christian Gothic art.

Since we don't usually see images of people in Islamic art, it's even been suggested that these were actually painted by Christian artists.

And on either side of the courtyard are the smaller halls of the Two Sisters and of the Abencerrages, with roofs covered with stalactite decoration.

These stalactites are known as mokarnas or mocarabes in Spanish, and

they are an integral form of ornamented Islamic void.

They originated from the squinch, an architectural element used in medieval architecture to translate a square into an octagon.

So looking at these holes is just astonishing because of all the detail that it has.

Notice the toughness of the exterior of the Alhambra, because this building is almost like a geode.

A geode looks like a rock on the outside and you crack it open and it's this kind of sparkling crystal.

So you look at the exterior of the Alhambra and it seems solid, it seems tough, it seems fortified.

But when you crack through that masonry shell, you get the same light, diaphanous collection of screens that we observed in the mosques.

You find this dematerialized, extremely light architecture.

And the effect is really amazing because you're in the shade, you're protected, but