Statue of Queen Isabella accepting Columbus's proposal to sail west to find the new route to China.
An interesting street lamp.
Iron work over the gate to the cathedral.
A Granada street.
Stone mosaic in the street.
"Granada" means "pomegranate" in Spanish, so you see images of pomegranates all over Granada.
Another view of the Columbus statue.
Columbus statue.
Columbus statue
Tonya and Scott in a Moroccan restaurant. The food wasn't much to our taste, but ah, the ambience!
Uphill toward the San Nicolás viewpoint.
A cool Moorish-style door.
Continuing uphill...
and uphill....
View of the Alhambra from the San Nicolás viewpoint
View from the San Nicolás viewpoint
The plaza at the San Nicolás viewpoint, filled with hippies and dizzying clouds of marijuana smoke.
A pretty fountain near the San Nicolás viewpoint
Another plaza near the San Nicolás viewpoint
Walking back downhill
At the entry to the Granada cathedral
An elegant statue of the Virgin Mary at tthe entry to the Granada cathedral
Granada Cathedral.
Granada Cathedral. Here we saw more images of Santiago as a crusader, looking very much like a pirate.
Granada Cathedral. While we were visiting, someone began to play this enormous pipe organ. It was heavenly.
Granada Cathedral. More pipes from the pipe organ.
Granada Cathedral. You have to pay attention; there are interesting little sculptures hiding in unexpected places.
Granada Cathedral. When wandering through these huge cathedrals, one often wonders how do they keep them clean? Note the accumulation of dust on the canopy above Mary.
Granada Cathedral. I like the use of the skull-and-crossbones on the tombstone.
Granada Cathedral. These were books of choral music, big enough so that all of the choir singers could read from the same page. Jeff, take note!
This was the oldest tombstone we saw in the cathedral (1632).
A string, percussion, and digeri-doo combo in Plaza Nueva.
The path leading to the Alhambra.
The church in the Alhambra.
Roof openings in the Alhambra bath-houses.
The Alhambra bath-houses.
Cool Moorish doorway.
One of the prettier mailboxes I´ve ever seen!
The palace of Charles V, built after the Christians had taken Granada.
Remember that the Alhambra was a military fortress, and held off the Christians for over 200 years.
The Wine Gate. All of the merchants entering the Alhambra had to come through this gate.
View from the walls of the Alcazaba, the fort near the Palacios.
The San Nicolás viewpoint, seen from the Alhambra. Notice the lack of hippies in the plaza; it was still early in the morning.
The entryway to the palace of Carlos V.
The palace of Carlos V.
Local wildlife in the palace of Carlos V.
View from the walls of the Alcazaba, the fort near the Palacios. Notice the old Moorish wall going up the hillside.
Pomegranate mosaic at the entryway to the Palacio Nazaríes.
Palacio Nazaríes.
Palacio Nazaríes. This sort of intricate scrollwork could be seen everywhere.
Palacio Nazaríes. Much of the artwork includes the old Arabic lettering. The symbol in the lower left (looks like a W with an addition on the left side) is the Arabic script for Allah.
Nazarie Palace. This is the inside of one of the arched doorways.
Palacio Nazaríes. Archaeologists argue as to whether nitches like these were used for flowers or for slippers.
Palacio Nazaríes. Decorations in the room where legends say two major historical events happened in 1492. It is said that in this room, the Moorish King Boabdil surrendered the Alhambra to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It is also purported that this was the room in which Columbus pitched the idea for his voyage to the China to the King and Queen.
A close-up of the wall decoration in the same legendary room in the Palacio Nazaríes.
The ceiling decoration in the same legendary room in the Palacio Nazaríes.
A close-up of some of the windows and wall decoration in the same legendary room in the Palacio Nazaríes.
This is on the floor of the same legendary room in the Palacio Nazaríes. This tilework included the name of Allah, and so it could not be stepped upon.
Palacio Nazaríes. The inside of an arch.
Palacio Nazaríes. In many of the arches, you can see ugly steel support bars. The original structures would otherwise have collapsed long ago.
Palacio Nazaríes. "F" is for Fernando (of Ferdinand and Isabella).
Palacio Nazaríes. "Y" is for Ysabel (of Ferdinand and Isabella).
Palacio Nazaríes. This is the plaza of the Fountain of the Lions. Unfortunately, the fountain has been taken apart for renovation.
Palacio Nazaríes. The hanging features from the dome are inspired by stalactites in caves.
View from the Palacio Nazaríes.
Local wildlife.
An Alhambra pigeon.
View from the Alcazaba, the military fortress.
View from the Alcazaba.
View from the Alcazaba. Here we can see the San Nicolás viewpoint again, now filled with hippies.
The ruins of the soldiers' quarters in the Alcazaba.
This was the bell that was rung to celebrate Ferdinand and Isabella's victory over the Moors.
An Alhambra cat.
A mosque originally occupied this site, however, when Ferdinand and Isabella drove the Moors out of Spain, they had the mosque torn down and a church built upon its site. This is the alter in the church. After a while, we sound like world-weary tour guides: "But for its history, this is an unremarkable church....".
In the Alhambra church.
View of the Sierra Nevada. This is the real Sierra Nevada, not the California imitation.
Walkway to the Generalife Palace. This is a small summer residence that is still many times larger than any of our homes.
Walkway to the Generalife Palace.
Generalife Palace.
View of the main palaces from the Generalife Palace.
View from the Generalife Palace.
Cool fountain sculpture.
Generalife Palace. The plaque reads, "The legend tells, that this Cypress of the Sultana, was witness to the love of a knight of Albencerraje and the wife of Boabdil (the last Muslim ruler of Granada)."
Generalife Palace. This is called the "water stair", with little cascades following it all the way down.
The walkway from the Generalife Palace.
The path leading from the Alhambra back down into town.
A fountain along the path back into town.
Another fountain sculpture. This one has the ever-present pomegranate, in this case looking remarkably like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.
Another fountain sculpture.
Another fountain sculpture. On the three faces in the last few photos, note that this one has wheat sheaves in his hair, one had grapes, and one had flowers.
The walkway back into town.
Along the walkway back into town.
In the plaza of Bib-Rambla.
Fountain sculpture in the plaza of Bib-Rambla.
Graffiti near the plaza of Bib-Rambla. It says, "He and his guitar / Left as the wind leaves / After it has touched your skin." The moral is: if you must write graffiti, write something pretty!
One face of the cathedral.
