The Alhambra Palace is a legendary palace ensemble built by the Granada emirs in southern Spain. The Moors left the castle at the behest of Allah, who allegedly became angry because people dared to create a kind of paradise on earth. According to the legend, the last ruler - the Moor Boabdile, leaving the castle, turned around and could not hold back the groan that escaped from his chest. Since then, the mountain pass has received the name "Moor's Wailing"
Al-gambra in Arabic means - Red. The Arab chronicler Ibn Khatib wrote that this name appeared due to the fact that the builders of the Alhambra worked day and night, and in the dark they made fires that threw red reflections on the walls. The powerful towers of the defensive system looked especially impressive. They also received the name "Torres Vermejas" - Scarlet. Under these towers, there are still ancient crypts, which inspired the composer Albeniz to write the poem "The Scarlet Tower". Later, another name appeared - "a pearl in emeralds", as the palace complex stood out against the background of green forests with the bright colors of perfect buildings built in different centuries. Poets call Algambara a woman in the arms of her beloved.
The beginning was laid by the Emir Al-Ahmar, who began construction of the residence in 1239 on the highest hill of Granada, on the site of an ancient Roman fortress. The main part of the buildings was erected in the XIV century, when the enlightened princes ruled in Granada - Iusuf I and his son Mohammed I. The latter himself supervised the construction, was engaged in garden planning, and planted rare plants.
Mohammed I built his main residence - the Komares Palace. The name comes from the Arabic word "gamariya", meaning colored stained-glass windows that adorn the largest golden-pink tower of the residence, 45 meters high. It is reflected in the mirror-like surface of the reservoir, expanding the space of the yard and creating a feeling of lightness and spaciousness.
In the middle of the palace there is a courtyard with a fountain of Lions, the bowl of which is surrounded by figures of twelve stylized lions in the style of the throne of King Solomon. In the southern part of the lion's courtyard, there is the legendary Abenserrach hall. It is named after a noble dynasty that was destroyed by order of the emir. During the festivities in the hall, 37 representatives of a noble family were killed due to the fact that one of the Abenserrahs was close to the Sultan's wife. During the feast, the whole family was beheaded, and after this tragedy, rusty stains appeared in the fountain, which are associated with spilled blood.
The palace has about 30 towers, some of which are real palaces inside. Each tower has its own history and legends. For example, in the Tower of Princesses lived three beautiful daughters of the ruler of Granada. In the neighboring tower, knights were imprisoned, who confused the girls with their songs. Two sisters decided to escape with the knights to Cordoba, but the third princess remained in the palace. Left alone, she soon died of melancholy and was buried under the tower in the crypt.
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The Captive Tower also has a romantic history. Isabelle de Solis, the famous favorite of the Emir, lived there. She was a Christian captured and, according to legend, was first imprisoned in this tower.
It must be said that during the numerous military clashes between Christians and Moors, the Alhambra's harem was constantly replenished with Christian concubines. The Sultan's concubine occupied the lowest level in the strict hierarchical system of the harem, and at the head of the harem was the master's first wife, who gave birth to his first child, then the other three "official" wives followed, followed by favorites and slaves. Once the daughter of the Spanish commander, Isabelle, was captured, and she was taken to the Alhambra. She was smart and beautiful. The girl received the name “Soraya”, which means “the star of the dawn”. Soraya overshadowed the first wife of Mulei Khasen, Aisha, and turned from a Christian slave into the beloved and chief wife of the Granada sultan. She subsequently gave birth to two children.
Meanwhile, Aisha, although she was not so beautiful, possessed an extraordinary will and fortitude, moreover, according to customs, her eldest son, Boabdil, claimed the throne. Isabelle also wanted her son to ascend the throne, and decided to remind her husband that the astrologers predicted that Boabdil would overthrow his father from the throne and bring great sorrow to the Granada kingdom.
Mulei Khasen believed his beloved wife and removed Aisha from the court, and threw his son into dungeon in one of the Alhambra towers, separating him from his young wife Moraima. He imprisoned the pregnant Moraima in prison. She then gave birth to a son, Ahmed.
Then the rejected wife and offended mother Aisha plotted a conspiracy. Together with the aristocrats Abesserrahs, she cunningly organized her son's escape to Guadix, where he led the rebel troops. On July 5, 1482, Boabdil ascended the throne of Granada after the death of his father. A year later, he was captured by the Catholic Kings, but the cunning mother freed him again, taking her grandson Ahmed hostage.
Meanwhile, the noose around the Kingdom of Granada was getting tighter and tighter. According to legend, the Moors had to flee from the Alhambra, as they say, by the will of Allah. On January 2, 1492, the castle fell under the onslaught of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. According to one version, Boabdile was captured and imprisoned in the tower, and Aisha lowered him on a rope right from the tower window.
There is evidence that the prince left the Alhambra before the invasion of the Spaniards right through the gates of the Seven-Tier Tower, which he ordered to be walled up so that they could no longer be used after him. Boabdile will head south with his retinue. Then he stopped at a mountain pass. Looking at the walls of the Alhambra fortress for the last time, he could not contain a groan that escaped from his chest. Tears came to his eyes and at that moment the embittered Aisha uttered her famous phrase, reproaching her son: “You are crying like a woman that you failed to protect us as a man should. Now, having lost the kingdom, you can comfort yourself on the chest of your wife! " Since then, the mountain pass has received the name "Wailing of the Moor".
Moraime's wife finally saw her husband and son, but by that time Ahmed was already 9 years old and he forgot his native Arabic, was converted to Christianity and raised according to the ideas of Queen Isabella of Castile. The happiness of reunited loving hearts did not last long. Moraima died suddenly. The grieving Boabdil handed over part of the fortune to the local imam so that he could pray for the soul of the deceased. And he himself went to Morocco, where he lived the rest of his life, and never married again.
After the conquest of Granada by Christians, the external decorations were covered with whitewash, paintings and gilding were plundered, furniture was broken. Moorish architecture was gradually destroyed. In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte planned to blow up the castle, but one of the commanders who was supposed to lead this barbarism saved the unique buildings by defusing explosives.