Preview

Creation Year
1974
Image ID
CS.046
Alternate Identifier
B49.227
Subcollection
CS: Granada
Abstract
The five-arched gallery of the Partal palace. The columns, though round today, were originally square, and were replaced with round ones in the 20th century. The word ‘Partal’ itself is of disputed origin. It is comprised of a five-arched gateway which overlooks pools of water. The Partal palace built by Muhammad III is the oldest surviving palace at the Alhambra. It is located to the east of the Court of the Lions. The box-hedges and the ivy of Partal’s gardens are all anachronistic.
Description
The Alhambra as a whole is one of the most fantasized monuments of Islamic Architecture, captivating the imagination of a vast number of writers and artists, including Washington Irving and the French author Chateaubriand, to name just a couple. Indeed, some parts of the Alhambra, such as the Court of the Lions, are commonly written about examples of the most beautiful architecture in the world. The palace-complex as it stands today was built mostly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries under the Nasrid dynasty (1238-1492), in particular by Yusuf I (1333-54) and his son Muhammad V (1354-59, 1362-1391). Out of six royal palaces, only two survive (the Comares palace and the Palace of the Lions). A summer palace called the Generalife (from the Arabic jannat al-arif, ‘the garden of the architect’) is also extant. – SK
Image Notes
Photograph created 1974. Processing date unknown. Formerly catalogued as B49.227. Notes written on the slide or index: Pavilion + pool.
Image Format
35 mm slide
Geographic Reference
Granada, Spain
Keywords
Moorish, Muslim, Fourteenth Century, Fifteenth Century, Reconstructed, Palace, Arches, Gate, Pool, Pavilion, Archway, Brick, Stucco, Masonry