Alhambra Palace 1

Mexuar

This room is more primitive. In Arab times it served as a courtroom and justice area for important cases. There was a chamber closed off by high lattice, where the sultan sat to listen without being seen.

There are no side windows. The roof is open at its center. In the background is a small room that served as oratory, where the currency is Albaycin, and is oriented differently from the wall to fulfill their religious function.

The decor is the result of many interventions from the 16th and 20th centuries. In Christian times this room was used as a chapel. Then you would enter a courtyard, called the Mexuar yard, with a fountain in the center and a camera to the left.

Patio del Cuarto Dorado or Mexuar

No one knows with certainty the fate of this area in Arab times. It was used as a room by Isabel of Portugal during his stay at the Alhambra, but he did not occupy it.

On the facade of the quarters were the capitals of the entrance arch. Inside the room the ceiling was decorated with cedarwood, pinecones, and shells. Under it were the windows, with the blinds closed. Two rectangular doorways were lined with valance pottery. The room is decorated with gothic paintings and shields and emblems of the Catholic Kings.

There are two doors, one leading to the palace and another that does not lead anywhere. It was so confusing to the assailants and thieves.

Sala de la Barca

From the north of the Courtyard Gallery of Arrayanes, through a pointed arch of mocarabes, you would go to the room of the boat, so named because it has a beautifully handcrafted assembly shaped hull boat.

This room, with a rectangular shape of 24 meters by 4.35 meters, seems as if it was smaller in the beginning, and its extension was made by Mohamed V. In this room there was a semidome, which was destroyed by a fire in 1890 and replaced by a reproduction in 1964.

Patio de la Alberca or the Arrayanes

It is the center hall of the Palace of Comares. On both sides of the pool, which occupies much of the patio, there are planted myrtles. Here you can find a yard of the environmental issues of the Alhambra: the presence of water.

And not only acting as such, i.e. water, but also as a mirror. Precisely, in this pool reflects the imposing tower of Comares. At one end there is a gallery across the courtyard, and at the other end, a bedchamber.

The palaces are Nasrid throughout the Comares Palace, built in the first place, and the Palacio de los Leones. Chronologically, they were lifted after the Alcazaba, Generalife, and Partal, its construction of the first third of the 14th century. It was the seat of the administrative functions of court protocol, as well as a private retreat to enjoy.

Palacio de Comares

You have a view of the courtyard of the myrtles and the pool. In the background is the tower of Comares.

The facade of the palace was built by Muhammad V’s mandate, being inaugurated in 1370.