Image | Junta de Andalucía
At the end of 2016 Granada was chosen as the most beautiful city in Spain in a contest organized on social networks. It was imposed on several localities as it is a privileged tourist destination that offers enormous possibilities from a cultural, gastronomic and sports point of view.
Just as the emblem of Paris is the Eiffel Tower, the icon of Granada is its beautiful Alhambra. A spectacular medieval palace that causes admiration to those who contemplate it. In this way, the Alhambra is one of those places that you have to visit once in your life.
During the past year the Alhambra in Granada gave us various occasions to get to know in an exceptional way those areas of the Nasrid fortress that are not normally part of the visit for reasons of preservation and maintenance.
Throughout 2017 the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife of Granada opened to the public the Torre de la Cautiva, the Huertas del Generalife, the Torre de los Picos, the Torre de la Pólvora or the Puerta de los Siete Suelos and To start our vacation on the right foot, during January 2018 the rooms of Emperor Charles V can be visited. How can they be accessed and on what days?
What are the rooms of Emperor Charles V like?
Image | Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and Generalife
After the conquest of the kingdom of Granada, the Catholic Monarchs carried out some interventions in the building to adapt the Islamic palace to new Christian uses. Later, his grandson Carlos V decided to make some modifications and build several rooms to stay here on the occasion of his visit to the Alhambra in 1526.
For this reason, gardens located between the Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions, known as El Prado, were used to build rooms that were organized by means of a corridor connected by the interior and around an irregular patio, therefore that the Islamic arrangement based on independent certificates around a courtyard was abandoned.
The first room is known as the Emperor's Office, which preserves a fireplace and a coffered ceiling made by Pedro Machuca in 1532. Next we find an antechamber through which the monarchs' bedrooms are accessed. Between 1535 and 1537, Alejandro Mayner and Julio Aquiles (close to the artist Rafael) were in charge of painting the walls of these rooms. Unfortunately, the paintings have almost been completely lost due to being covered several times with plaster.
The rooms of Emperor Charles V are also known because the famous American writer Washington Irving spent the night there., author of the "Tales of the Alhambra", specifically in the "Salas de las Frutas" in 1829. Today there is a marble plaque placed on the door, placed in 1914, which recalls the writer's passage through the Alhambra in Granada.
The Alhambra of Granada
Visiting the Alhambra in Granada
Granada is known around the world for its Alhambra. Its name means red fortress and it is one of the most visited Spanish monuments because its attraction lies not only in the beautiful interior decoration but also in that it is a building that integrates perfectly with the surrounding landscape. In fact, it is a tourist attraction of such relevance that it was even proposed for the New Seven Wonders of the World.
It was built between the 1870th and XNUMXth centuries in times of the Nasrid kingdom, as a military fortress and palatine city, although it was also a Christian Royal House until it was declared a monument in XNUMX.
The Alcazaba, the Royal House, the Palace of Carlos V and the Patio de los Leones are some of the most popular areas of the Alhambra. So are the Generalife gardens that are located on the Cerro del Sol hill. The most beautiful thing about these gardens is the interplay between light, water and exuberant vegetation.
Visiting schedule
In January, every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday can be seen with the Alhambra General ticket the rooms of Emperor Carlos V that are usually closed for conservation reasons.
Where to get the tickets to see the Alhambra?
Tickets to visit the Alhambra in Granada can be purchased online, by phone, at the ticket offices of the monument itself or through a travel agency that is an authorized agent. Given the large number of visits it has per year, it must be remembered that tickets must be purchased in advance, between one day and three months, on the chosen date but cannot be purchased on the same day.
What do you think of the initiative of the Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and Generalife of Granada to discover us the most remote places of the Nasrid fortress? Have you already visited one? Which one would you have liked or would like to discover?