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Everbody who has ever been in the Alhambra says that one visit is not enough. You have to keep going back to walk along the palace to discover every time new secrets, new sounds, new perfumes. I must admit that I still haven’t been there, but I am planning to go soon, so I am passing along all the info I have collected for my visit.

The Alhambra was so called because of its reddish walls (in Arabic, («qa’lat al-Hamra’» means Red Castle). It is located on top of the hill al-Sabika, on the left bank of the river Darro, to the west of the city of Granada and in front of the neighbourhoods of the Albaicin and of the Alcazaba.

The Alhambra was a palace, a citadel, fortress, and the home of the Nasrid sultans, high government officials, servants of the court and elite soldiers (from the 13th to the 14th century). Today, the monument is divided into four main areas: the Palaces, the military zone or Alcazaba, the city or Medina and the agricultural estate of the Generalife. All of these areas are surrounded by woods, gardens and orchards.

Other notable buildings belonging to a different time period are also included, such as the Renaissance style Palace of Charles V, which houses the Alhambra Museum (most of the items are from the site of the monument) and the Fine Art Museum.

In order to fully appreciate the unique architecture of the Alhambra set within the surrounding landscape, it is advisable to visit an area of the Albaicin called the Mirador de San Nicolas, or go to Sacromonte. From both of these places the Alhambra’s spectacular location, lying just above the city of Granada, can really be admired.

The Alhambra is located on a strategic point, with a view over the whole city and the meadow (la Vega), and this fact leads to believe that other buildings were already on that site before the Muslims arrived. The complex is surrounded by ramparts and has an irregular shape. It limits with the valley of the river Darro on its northern side, with the valley of al-Sabika on its southern side and with the street Cuesta del Rey Chico on the eastern side. The Cuesta del Rey Chico is also the border between the neighbourhood of the Albaicin and the gardens of the Generalife, located on top of the Hill of the Sun (Cerro del Sol).

Useful Info
Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife
Telephone within Spain: 902 224 460
Telephone from abroad: + 34 91 537 91 78
Online Bookings

Opening Times
November to February
- Daytime:
Monday to Sunday: 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ticket office: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Night-time:
Friday and Saturday: 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The ticket office: 7.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.

March to October
- Daytime:
Monday to Sunday: 8.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. The ticket office: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Night-time:
Every day from 10 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. except Sunday and Monday.

The ticket office: 9.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 16th, 2007 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Granada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.