A Sea of Stories
The Alhambra Text José Miguel Puerta Vílchez Illustrations Seisdedos
INT_UMH ALHAMBRA INGOK.indd 1
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The Impregnable Red Fortress
D
o not be alarmed, dear Victor, Nur and Yuman, at hearing a monument
speak. Soon you will understand
why I am telling you my own story.
King Ibn al-Ahmar began to build me when
he came to Granada in 1238 to govern the
Muslims’ last dynasty in Spain. Thanks to the impregnable walls he built and the Royal
Irrigation Ditch he constructed around the skirts of the Sierra Nevada, his descendants converted me into one of mankind’s most
beloved heritage sites. My shape is that of a
ship, with the Alcazaba or citadel at the prow, presided over by the Candle Tower, and on the bridge are the Comares, Lions and Partal
Palaces. On the port side are two great gates, Justice and the Seven Floors, while on the starboard side is the Tower Passage, which
clings to the side of the Generalife like a
have too, Alhambra the Red! They say it’s because of your russet-coloured clay or
because of the glow from the labourers’ torches as they worked through the night.”
Everything is red in Granada: the Latin name
for the city and the colour garnet; the bright grains of the pomegranate for which it is named; the epithet for my extraordinary
fortress; the surname of my builders, Banu al-Ahmar, which means Sons of the Red; the
city flag; and, naturally, the most intense
twilights on the planet, which I contemplate
from my lofty position. However, in truth, they dressed me in white, protecting my
wide, sandy walls with lime. “How high they were and how they shimmered!” exclaimed the Christians when they caught sight of my
bastions but dared not attack. Only the
Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, were finally able to capture me on the cold morning of the 2nd January 1492, when my
beautiful lifeboat. Behind me rise the highest,
masters surrendered after a long siege.
before me, on the opposite bank of the River
on his way into exile because losing you
whitest peaks on the Iberian Peninsula and Darro, behold Granada resting on a ravine. Head
of the emirate’s capital and a treasure trove, I am —as my poets say— a bride sweetened by the
rain that courts the stars. They call me the crown
of this magical hill, the Sabika, which dominates the landscape, the city and the frontiers.
“What a beautiful name! Sabika: gold ingot. And what an enigmatic, pretty name you
INT_UMH ALHAMBRA INGOK.indd 3
“They say that your last master, Boabdil, cried
signified losing everything. But the love inspired by the fantasy and perfection of your art, or some benevolent talisman, have meant that neither the ignorant, violent hand of
man, which damaged you so many times, nor any trembling earthquake have brought your destruction. Just as well the much-feared legend never came true: when the hand
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engraved on the Gate of Justice reaches the
key on the other side, the Alhambra will crumble to the ground or the world will end.�
The Tower of the Seven Heavens The subjects gazed warily up at me from the city, awed by my vertical, virile and
hermetic exterior. Not for nothing were
orders and convictions issued from me! But enter my gates and I am feminine, full of enigmas and surprises. Among my
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twenty-three towers, big and small, the Tower of Comares stands out majestically
with its impressive 45-metre tall hulk, home to the largest throne room of the
Middle Ages. It was built by my master, Abulhayach Yusuf, a cultured and pious sultan who left this world prematurely in 1354. Aged just thirty-six, he was
assassinated by a madman as he celebrated the final prayer for Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting. Although he hadn’t
finished his fortress, the room is a
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testament to his glory. Master Yusuf
the apex over Sultan Yusuf I, enthroned
in the Islamic world. Look up to contemplate
engravings of these golden verses:
covered it with the grandest wooden cupola
it, as high and starry as the firmament! It is a marvellous work of marquetry made from
8,017 pieces of wood, which represent the
seven heavens described in the Quran,
in the central alcove of the room, which has She is the Supreme Dome and we her daughters, Although favour and glory distinguish me, As I am the heart and they the limbs…
My lord Yusuf, supported by Allah, dressed me
when the Prophet Muhammad ascended to
In robes of dignity and unquestionable distinction,
of Allah. The stars measure up to 2.5 metres
“You really do talk! It’s not a fairy tale or a
the Tree of Life. Divine light emanates from
your walls tell us?”
the seventh heaven to see the glowing face
and the four corners have depictions of
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Making me the throne of the realm..
figment of our imagination! What else can
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