Granada was our first item of the things to see in Andalousia, because of the Alhambra, of course. What else did Granada have to offer? We were going to be so pleasantly surprised with this town...and first, with our hotel, Carlos V, located downtown, besides a supermarket (Super Sol) and with a nice balcony from where we could admire the city scape and if we bent down a little, the Alhambra itself.

It is difficult to express all the sensations and moods that overcome one when entering this magic place called the Alhambra.  The words of Washington Irving, an American author and essayist who served as an Ambassador to Spain, finalized a book entitled The Tales of the Alhambra in 1851.

Palace of the Alhambra by Washington Irving

TO THE traveller imbued with a feeling for the historical and poetical, so inseparably intertwined in the annals of romantic Spain, the Alhambra is as much an object of devotion as is the Caaba to all true Moslems. How many legends and traditions, true and fabulous; how many songs and ballads, Arabian and Spanish, of love and war and chivalry, are associated with this oriental pile! It was the royal abode of the Moorish kings, where, surrounded with the splendors and refinements of Asiatic luxury, they held dominion over what they vaunted as a terrestrial paradise, and made their last stand for empire in Spain. The royal palace forms but a part of a fortress, the walls of which, studded with towers, stretch irregularly round the whole crest of a hill, a spur of the Sierra Nevada or Snowy Mountains, and overlook the city; externally it is a rude congregation of towers and battlements, with no regularity of plan nor grace of architecture, and giving little promise of the grace and beauty which prevail within.  

 

These massive structures hide wonderful palaces beyond their walls. The Tower of the Captive (Torre de la Cautiva) is located on the path along the ramparts.

During the 16th century it was called "Tower of the Woman Thief (Torre de la Ladrona) and"Tower of the Sultana" (Torre de la Sultana). The name of the tower was changed to Tower of the Captive because it was thought that Lady Isabel de Solís lived there. She converted to the Islam with the name of Zoraya and was Muley Hacén favourite wife.

 And below, the Tower of the Princesses (Torre de las Infantas) which as described by Irving, was as beautifully decorated as the other parts of the Nazaries Palace… " this was the Tower of the Princesses (la Torre de las Infantas); so called, from having been, according to tradition, the residence of the daughters of the Moorish kings. I have since visited the tower. It is not generally shown to strangers, though well worthy attention, for the interior is equal, for beauty of architecture, and delicacy of ornament, to any part of the palace. The elegance of the central hall, with its marble fountain, its lofty arches, and richly fretted dome; the arabesques and stucco-work of the small but well-proportioned chambers, though injured by time and neglect, all accord with the story of its being anciently the abode of royal beauty." (The tower of las infantas, Tales of the Alhmabra, w.Irving

 The spell of the Alhambra remains with us for a long time...before leaving listen to Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt who recorded a wonderful album at the Alhambra...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QpRCK1IbiE