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The Alhambra is the most important monument in the city of Granada. It is a castle-shaped enclosure surrounded by walls where there is a wide variety of buildings and gardens from different periods of history. The Alhambra is often referred to as the palatine city because the most characteristic buildings inside it are the group of palaces.

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It began to be populated in the Iberian period, and there was scattered Roman settlement. There is no data on Islamic settlement prior to the arrival of the Zirid Berbers, so it is assumed that the city was abandoned from the end of the Roman Empire until the founding of the Zirid kingdom (1013), which was when it was surrounded by walls (Alcazaba Cadima ). According to some linguists, it owes its current name to the inhabitants of the city of Baeza who, exiled from it after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, settled in this area of ​​Granada outside the existing walls. Other linguists claim that the place name comes from the Arabic al-bayyāzīn (in its Granada pronunciation with imala, al-bayyīzīn), which means the suburb of the falconers.

During the year 1829 he dedicated himself to studying the history of the city in depth, regularly accessing the archives of the University of Granada, and as a result of this stubbornness one of his great literary works emerged; The Tales of the Alhambra. In which the beautiful neighborhoods of Granada appear, and one of them is the Albayzín.

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He was born in New York, into a wealthy family of British origin.
Since childhood he had shown a great interest in literature and journalism. He read non-stop, although The Thousand and One Nights and Robinson Crusoe left a special mark on him. That they were those books and not others says a lot about his character. However, his father wanted him to work in the family business, so he studied law.
After finishing the studies, it was time for the Grand Tour. He traveled through Europe for two years (1804-1806), specifically through France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. When he returned to New York, he founded a company with his brothers. But his vocation for writing was already unstoppable.
In 1802 his first articles appeared in a local newspaper, such as the Morning Chornicles, edited by his own brother. In 1809 he published a History of New York as told by Dietrich Knickerbocker. This book was his first success. So much so that New Yorkers of Dutch origin began to be called by the name of the novel's protagonist. He continued his career as a journalist at the Analectic Magazine until 1814.
In 1815, business obligations forced him to return to Europe, to Liverpool, where he came into contact with such important personalities as Walter Scott. The company he had founded with his brother went bankrupt. It was the perfect opportunity to dedicate himself completely to literature.
The romantics saw Andalusia as an exotic place within Europe, full of tales and legends where they could take refuge. At the same time, they were also sure that those mysteries hid the essence of the spirit of the peoples.
This explains why he looked for any excuse to be able to travel to the south of Spain: something that was much easier for him when he was appointed consul. That was how he came to Granada.
The Alhambra of 1829 was not as we know it today. It was abandoned and inhabited by vagabonds or travelers who, like him, found the Andalusian Palace fascinating. This surprised them very much. But what shocked them the most was seeing the walls of the Alhambra full of graffiti.
Many travelers immortalized the date of their visits in this way. Irvin realized how outrageous that was. Like a good rebel, he decided to fight for the preservation and reconstruction of the Alhambra.
Thus, during his stay in Granada, he not only bathed in the pools in the patios of the Alhambra or had breakfast with his friend in the Patio de los Leones. He also walked through the Albaicín, in search of the legends and popular tales that revolved around the monument.
He already had some knowledge from his Hispanic studies, but popular culture fed his imagination and his pen.
Although The Tales of the Alhambra served to make Europe feel even more attracted to the legends that the Palace treasures.
In addition, his commitment to the monument was essential for Granada to become aware of the value of the monument.

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Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Abī il-Hasan ‘Alī,or better known as Boabdil it was the last sultan of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada.He took the throne from his father, Muley Hacén, and for a time was in dispute over him and his uncle, the Zagal. He was born in the Alhambra, he was the son of Muley Hacén and the sultana Aixa. The first news of his life was a notarial act in which his father sold his brother and him the estate of the Nublo on March 13, 1465. His father's predilection for the muladí Zorayda, with whom he married and had two children, made Boabdil position himself in favor of his mother Aixa and began a father-son rivalry.

FIRST REIGN

These events and the loss of Alhama de Granada at Christian hands made Boabdil revolt in Guadix, where he had fled, against his father in mid-June 1482 and accede to the Nasrid throne thanks to the support of the Abencerrajes and his own mother, at the same time that his brother seized Almería. His father and uncle El Zagal, who remained loyal to the emir, retired to Malaga after failing to recover the Alhambra, but their victories against the Christians were numerous, so she decided to face him in Almuñécar.
Boabdil needed a triumph for his followers to keep him in power, so he headed towards the Castilian city of Lucena on April 20, 1483, where the battle of Martín González took place.
However, his troops were defeated despite their greater numbers, his father-in-law Aliatar killed and he himself was captured by the Count of Cabra, being imprisoned in the castle of Lucena and in that of Cabra and later they gave it to the Catholic Monarchs in Porcuna, where they locked it again in the castle tower, today called the tower of Boabdil. His mother Aixa sent a delegation to Córdoba, where King Ferdinand the Catholic was, to free her son in exchange for the Nasrid territory that controlled the Zagal.
Ferdinand agreed and even on July 5, 1483 urged the citizens and rulers of the emirate to recognize Boabdil as monarch to stay safe.In addition, for his release, Boabdil should support Ferdinand in his fight against his father, he had to submit to vassalage, hostage delivery like his own son Ahmad and twelve thousand gold doublings.Boabdil, now free, went to Guadix, although the situation became complicated and he had to go to Almería, where he met with his brother Yusuf. His father's forces were approaching and he had to go himself to ask King Ferdinand for help, then Almería fell and his brother Yusuf was executed by his own father.
Muley Hacén would die in 1485 and would be replaced by the Zagal, who was proclaimed emir of Granada.Boabdil managed to return to the eastern part of the emirate, being recognized by the Vélez and Huéscar at the end of 1485. However, the civil war dragged on and the Alfaquís pressed for the fighting to cease, as the kingdom was being ruined. An agreement was reached by which Boabdil renounced the crown in favor of his uncle, marching to Loja that remained in his power.Despite the peace treaty with the Catholic Monarchs, the Castilians conquered Loja on May 30, 1486. Boabdil was imprisoned for the second time and was released to continue keeping alive the Nasrid civil war, since he would be granted Guadix, Baza, Vera, the Vélez and Mojácar if he managed to conquer them in eight months.
While the Castilians continued their conquests, Boabdil settled in the Vélez and on October 15, 1486 he would secretly enter the neighborhood Granada of the Albaicín, where the majority supported him, and even a Castilian incursion defended him from his enemies, so he began to gain supporters like Malaga.
Ferdinand the Catholic was impatient and decided to attack Vélez-Málaga, capturing it, so the Zagal ran there, a moment that Boabdil took advantage of to win Granada in its entirety and proclaim himself emir for the second time on April 29, 1487, informing Isabella the Catholic herself the same day. At the beginning of May of that year, he signed the third and last agreement with the Catholic Monarchs, by which he renounced the city of Granada in exchange for a principality in the eastern part when the Castilians had in their possession the rest of the emirate.
This is the reason why Boabdil recommended during the Taking of Malaga to Muslim citizens to surrender and dismantled some relief troops of his uncle from Guadix.Finally, on December 4, 1489, Baza fell after a five-month siege and the Zagal would surrender and surrender its remaining domains a few days later.
Although Boabdil enjoyed two more years of truce, the Catholic Monarchs broke the pact to give him the promised eastern territories and launched the conquest of Granada. Boabdil defended himself and even achieved some victories, but on November 25, 1491 he had to sign the Capitulation of Granada, which was granted to the Andalusian the right to remain in Granada with its possessions, religion and culture and gave Boabdil some land in the Alpujarra.
At dawn on January 2, 1492, Boabdil handed over in the Throne Room (Torre de Comares) the keys to the Alhambra to a man trusted by Isabel (Gutierre de Cárdenas). At three o'clock in the afternoon he went to the gates of Granada to pay homage to the Catholic Monarchs, who gave him his son Ahmed.
They surrendered their weapons and headed with his family to their new lands in the Alpujarra, specifically in Codba, current Fuente Victoria, according to the letters of the royal secretary Hernando de Zafra, according to the chronicle of Luis del Mármol and according to the description of the Kingdom of Granada of Henríquez de Jorquera.In August 1493 his wife Morayma died in Andarax and buried her in Mondújar, where he had already transferred the remains of the other emirs, from Granada. He sold his properties in La Alpujarras to the Christian kings (which included Andarax, Berja, Dalías and Purchena) and after requesting asylum in the Kingdom of Fez he embarked with his mother and family in Adra in October of that year, arriving in Cazaza and settling in Fez.
There he built some palaces in the Andalusian style and died between 1533-34, being buried in an oratory in front of the Puerta del Umbral.

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The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (1232-1492) was the last Islamic state in al-Andalus. The kingdom was founded by Mohamed-Ben Nazar.
The Nasrid Kingdom occupied part of the provinces of Granada, Malaga and Almería. The capital, Granada, was one of the most important cultural and commercial centres in Europe.
The prosperous economy allowed the sultans to pay high taxes in gold to Castile to avoid attack. This made their survival possibl until 1492 when Boabdil, the last ruler, surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs.

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Photo of La Alhambra taken with a beautiful sky

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After the dissolution of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031, the territory occupied by the Muslims was divided into Taifa kingdoms, which finally succumbed to Christian troops in the 12th century. For two hundred years, the kingdom of Granada became the only vestige of Muslim power in the Iberian Peninsula. The founder of the Nasrid dynasty, Al-Ahmar, ordered the construction of the Alhambra and transferred the royal residence of the Albaicín to this new location. It was then that Granada entered its period of greatest artistic splendor. The wall and the aqueduct of the Alhambra are the oldest part of the palatine city. Later, the Alcazaba and the main towers were built. During the 14th century, the three Nasrid palaces were built: Mexuar, Comares and Los Leones. After the Reconquest in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs carried out several reforms and built the convent of San Francisco. Later, his grandson Emperor Charles V ordered the construction of a palace named after him. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the Alhambra suffered a period of neglect of almost a hundred years until Napoleon's French troops occupied part of the palace and were about to destroy it. Finally, in 1870, the Alhambra became property of the State and was declared a National Monument

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Granada neighborhood of Albaicín, is so beautiful.

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒃𝒅𝒊𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒃𝒅𝒊𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅

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The Generalife was a palace built for the Kings of Granada as a leisure place for when they wanted to get away from official affairs. It occupies the slopes of the Hill of the Sun (Cerro del sol), from where you have a view of all the valley, and the city.

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The Generalife was built in the 13th century nd it was redecorated by the king Abu I- Walid Isma'il (1313-1324), as it is explained by an inscription that dates from 1319. Although it was built near to the Alhambra, and has a close relationship, the Generalife is considered to be outside the city of Granada.

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It is difficult to know how the Generalife originally looked like, since it has been altered and rebuilt many times due to the neglet and deterioration.
In the Generalife, there is not any decorative excess, nor interesting architecture. Unlike the Alhambra, all the buildings of the Generalife are quite solid, but in general poor and simple. This indicates an intimate and peaceful atmosphere that the kings were looking for when they retired to these gardens to rest. There are only some decorative motifs of plasterwork, which are not very varied, but are very beautiful.

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Relationship with Tales of the Alhambra and the Generalife.

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Relationship with Tales of the Alhambra and the Generalife.

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Washington Irving tells us in Tales of the Alhambra, that the Generalife is where Prince Ahmed al Kamel lived, and that although he had lived in paradise his whole life, he had all but not one thing, love.

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First of all I´m gonna talk about Isabel I.

Isabel the Catholic (Madrigal de las Altas Torres 1451- Medina del Campo 1504) was one of the few people who reigned at this time being a woman, because if you were a girl you had very reduced rights; she was queen of castilla from 1474 to 1504, her father was Juan II of Castilla, and her mother was Isabel of Portugal (the second wife of Juan). In theory she would not have reigned, because she was half-sister of King Enrique IV and sister of the infant Alfonso; in spite of her brothers she reigned, because Enrique IV was very ambiguous and was deposed by Alfonso, but he died, it is not known specifically what the causes are, but the hypotheses indicate a poisoning; this strange death led Isabel to the throne, but if Enrique's descendants had been male, it would have changed the story.
After what happened to her brothers, Isabella was recognized as queen of Castilla (Toros de Guisando, Sept. 1468).
Shortly thereafter Isabel of Castilla and Fernando of Aragon were secretly married on the date of October 19, 1469 in Valladolid to unite Aragon and Castilla.

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Isabel lived in quite a few places like Segovia, Medina del Campo, Madrigal de las Altas Torres and Arevalo.

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ISABEL WAS BORN THERE AND WHEN SHE REACHED THE THRONE SHE GATHERED THE COURTS IN MADRIGAL.

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ISABEL SPENT MOST OF HER CHILDHOOD THERE

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HER PROCLAMATION WAS IN THE MAIN SQUARE OF SEGOVIA

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Isabel of Castilla, wife of her cousin Fernando of Aragon (later they would become the Catholic kings) was an optimistic person who did not hesitate in every step she took, that is to say, she was very sure of herself and knew what she was doing. As a mother, she had signs of tenderness. It is a huge contrast between the maternal woman and the sovereign who expelled the Jews and fought relentlessly. She was a jealous wife, a trait that would eventually be observed in her daughter Juana.

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Now I´m gonna talk about the Reconquest of Granada from the point of view of this queen.

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🌹The reconquest of Granada (from the point of view of Isabel I)🌹

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🌹The reconquest of Granada (from the point of view of Isabel I)🌹

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After almost ten years of war, on January 2, 1492, Boabdil (who was the sultan from Granada) and his entourage also from Granada surrender to the Catholic kings and their great kingdom; they were defeated due to their internal divisions. Thanks to this defeat by the Nasrids, the Catholic kings, that is, Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castilla, unified the country politically and religiously.

Isabel I of Castilla, contrary to what had happened in the times of her father Juan II and her brother Enrique IV, not only had in mind to obtain several victories on the battlefield, but she intended something much more ambitious: to put an end once and for all to the Islamic power in the Peninsula.

This conquest was as the same year as the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.

Some of these facts are collected in the stories of the Alhambra, but with different expressions and ways of telling them.

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Aisha bint Muhammad ibn al-Ahmar or Aixa al-Hurra (the honoured) was the feisty, determined mother of Boabdil, the last Emir of Granada.  She earned her place in history for having rebuked her son for the loss of Granada in 1492, famously quoting;

“Do not cry as a woman for what you could not defend as a man.”

Aixa was a politically active queen, wielding a great amount of influence on matters of state during the final years of the Emirate of Granada. No woman in Moorish history fought like Aixa to save Granada from its final demise, which resulted in the famous moment when her son Boabdil handed over the key of Granada to 15th century Catholic powerhouse of  Isabel of Castille and Fernando of Aragon. Aixa’s true place in the history books, in what was the most critical turning point for Islam in Europe, has yet to be recognised.

Aixa was a strong energetic woman with a character of steel, and never stopped fighting for Granada. A political player, she fought for the rightful succession of her son Boabdil to the Nasrid throne. After the fall of Granada, Aixa followed her son into exile, initially to the Alpujarras and then to finally to Fes in 1493.