La Alhambra: un Sueño Hecho Realidad

his weekend I I made an art historical pilgrimage of sorts to the Alhambra in Granada. I dreamed of visiting this magnificent place ever since learning about it in Professor Bonde's class, Muslims, Jews and Christians in Medieval Iberia, way back in 2000. It was everything I imagined and more!

The Alhambra is in fact a complex composed of several buildings, including a Moorish fortress, a Moorish palace and the Palace of Charles V. As with many surviving Moorish Andalusian sites, the Palace of Charles is in part a monument to Christian triumph over the Moors.

The Royal Complex is by far my favorite section of the Alhambra. Here, nearly every surface coruscates with inscriptions and abstract patterns. Walls, archways and ceilings are meticulously carved. Our tour guide indicated that the artisans toiled on the Alhambra's decorations for more than 200 years. I am not surprised. The result is astonishing. One encounters room after room of adornment, a marvelous optical buffet impressing upon the viewer the immense wealth of the Complex's inhabitants.

In addition to decorative motifs, the Alhambra features impressive aquatic engineering. Fountains abound in the Alhambra, as does evidence of comprehensive plumbing. I noticed a couple of gutters gurgling even on the oppressively hot day on which I visited. Water sprouts playfully from orderly fountains concealed in garden pools. The Alhambra's creators clearly maintained their reverence for water despite their mastery of it.

I am so grateful to have gotten to see the Alhambra. It's an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason. There is so much to this place, and I encourage anyone interested to read more about it. The wikipedia entry is a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra.

Ah, la vida Andaluza....