Alhambra & Generalife Gardens, Spain

Alhambra Palaces & Generalife Gardens .. Highlights

El Generalife gardens, Granada (Alice Joyce photo)

An unforgettable profusion of roses and refreshing water features appear at every turn when you experience the beauty and brilliance of the Alhambra palaces and Generalife gardens on a Spring day.

The wonders of this world heritage site are the high point of a journey to Granada, the magnificent capital city of Andalusia, overlooking the Sierra Nevada mountains, some 40 miles inland from the Spanish coast. In May you can expect the days to be wonderfully warm, with clear azure skies.

Generalife's Rose Gardens, A Feast for the Senses (Alice Joyce photo)

Generalife Gardens - Patio de la Acequia (Alice Joyce photo)

Patio de la Acequia - El Generalife: The presence of water – so integral to Islamic garden design – represents a life source, nourishing the body and the spirit. The Patio de la Acequia, as shown, is named for the acequias or channels for the irrigation system, which supplied water from outside the walls to the palaces and gardens.

Alhambra - Architectural Detail (Alice Joyce photo)

Muqarnas: The unique tiered ornamentation mentioned in a previous feature exemplifies the exceptional craftsmanship which emerges in the architecture of the Alhambra.

A fascinating example of a modernist architectural addition to the ancient monument, the new Teatro or concert arena is a space composed of hard-edge forms and stark planes. The Generalife’s lush arrays of evergreen trees, clipped shrubs, imposing sculpted hedging and garden rooms overflowing with scented roses tend of soften the effect of the contemporary layout.

Generalife, the Teatro - New Concert Arena (Alice Joyce photo)

March 16th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Historic Gardens, Islamic Gardens | 9 comments - (Comments are closed)

Generalife: Granada, Spain - An Islamic Garden

The Islamic Garden … A Paradise on Earth

El Generalife - Islamic Gardens (ALICE JOYCE photo)

Should the Arab world be outside your reach, you’ll find that most memorable effect fully realized in the gardens of the Alhambra, looming over the city of Granada in southern Spain’s Andalusia region. Despite the crowds you may expect to encounter, a tour of Granada rightly pivots upon the Alhambra’s wonders:  The immense hilltop complex standing as a testament to eras of occupation by Romans, Goths, and the control of Christian monarchs after 1492. Yet, the grandeur of the Alhambra monument resides in neither the surviving citadel nor the palace of Charles V, but rather in the Medieval epoch’s Nasrid palaces, and the exquisite gardens of the sultan’s retreat, El Generalife – created by Muslim rulers.

Alhambra - Torre de las Damas (Alice Joyce photo)

Avid hikers may choose to follow a maze of narrow, winding streets to the monument’s gateway, but a bouncing ascent aboard a minibus is the usual transport from Granada’s centrally located Plaza Nueva: The Nasrid Palaces - Inside the gracefully proportioned halls of the Nasrid palaces, a spell is cast by vast sweeps of rhythmically carved motifs, covering plaster walls and soaring wooden ceilings. The visual feast is heightened by the carvings known as muqarnas: A unique tiered ornamentation that adorns countless domes, vaults, niches, and at times emerges in the shape of stalactites.

El Generalife, Granada, Spain (ALICE JOYCE photo)

El Generalife - Positioned high above the surrounding river valleys, the Moorish-designed royal gardens of the Alhambra and the Generalife manifest the ideals of an earthly paradise in sheltered courtyards cooled by shallow marble fountains or mirror-like pools of water. Providing an escape from the intense Mediterranean sun the gardens are replete with luxuriant vegetation; cypress, myrtle, and box shrubbery; abundant citrus, plum and magnolia trees. A floral perfume sweetens the air of the Generalife, where peering through arches sculpted out of massive, architectural hedges, you’ll savor images of canals flanked by allées of roses.

El Generalife, Granada, Spain (Alice Joyce photo)

March 11th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: Historic Gardens, Islamic Gardens | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)

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