Print from steel engraving titled Salle des bains a l'Alhambra, published in a volume of L'Univers Pittoresque, Paris, approx. page size 20.5 x 12.5 cm, approx. image size 11.5 x 9 cm.

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Alhambra,

palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in the Andalusian region of Spain. The name Alhambra, signifying in Arabic "the red," is probably derived from the colour of the sun-dried tapia, or bricks made of fine gravel and clay, of which the outer walls are built.

Constructed on a plateau below which clusters the city of Granada, the palace was built chiefly between 1238 and 1358, in the reigns of Ibn al-Ahmar, founder of the Nasrid dynasty, and his successors. The splendid decorations of the interior are ascribed to Yusuf I (died 1354). After the expulsion of the Moors in 1492, much of the interior was effaced and the furniture was ruined, or removed. Charles V, who ruled in Spain 1516-56, rebuilt portions in the Renaissance style and destroyed part of the Alhambra to build an Italianate palace designed by Pedro de Machuca in 1526. In 1812 some of the towers were blown up by the French during the Napoleonic invasion; and in 1821 an earthquake caused further damage to the structure. Restoration of the building was undertaken in 1828 and has continued to the present.

The Moorish portion of the Alhambra includes the Alcazaba, or citadel, which is the oldest part--only its massive outer walls, towers, and ramparts are left. Beyond the Alcazaba is the Alhambra palace, and beyond that the Alhambra Alta (Upper Alhambra), which was originally tenanted by officials and courtiers and was part of a royal city, a seat of government.

The principal courts of the palace are the Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles) and the Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions), so named because in the centre is the Fountain of the Lions, an alabaster basin supported by the figures of 12 white marble lions, emblems of strength and courage. The most important rooms of the Alhambra are the Sala de los Embajadores (Hall of the Ambassadors), a spatially grand reception room; the Sala de los Abencerrages (the name of this hall was derived from a legend in which Boabdil, the last king of Granada, having invited the Abencerrage chiefs to a banquet in this room, massacred them there); and the Sala de las Dos Hermanas (Hall of the Two Sisters), with its outstanding example of stalactite work.

Of the outlying buildings, the most important is the Generalife (from the Moorish Jannat al-'Arif, or Garden of the Builder). This villa probably dates from the end of the 13th century.

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