I got lost in Granada. I walked up into the Albayzin neighborhood to watch the sunlight wash onto the Alhambra. This is an ancient neighborhood, full of twisting, narrow lanes. I walked to The Church of San Nicolas. There is a plaza where people can sit and watch the sun turn the Alhambra all sorts of interesting colors.
I wandered through the neighborhood, sort of vaguely aware of where I was headed. But then on the way down I got completely turned around. I thought I was in one place, but was in another.
I hate it when that happens.
I meandered a little, then stopped two older, elegantly dressed ladies. I asked them if they could help me. They told me how to get back to my hotel - in Spanish. I nodded along, then pointed up the street. They promptly pointed in the opposite direction and we all laughed.
The next morning, I walked to the entrance of the Alhambra in the dark, and was the fourth person in line. I wanted to see Muslim Spain, to see history.
The Alhambra is covered in poetry. The poet to the court, Ibn Zamrak (1333-1393), has his most famous poems engraved right onto the buildings. It is as if the Alhambra is whispering in Arabic to you. Confiding in you. Sweet nothings. Revealing, self confident, even haughty sweet nothings. The poetry is in voice of the Alhambra.
"I am the garden appearing every morning with adorned beauty; contemplate my beauty and you will be penetrated with understanding."
"And the bright stars would like to establish themselves firmly in it rather than to continue wandering about in the vault of the sky."
One book I read on the subject put it nicely: "The walls are covered with the incantation 'There is no victor but God,' obsessively repeated, and with the words of the Quran, but one can also read there the poetry of the Nasrid courts, so that the last chapter of Arabic poetry in Spain is literally written into the walls of this memory palace." - from The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal
Consider the year 1492. It was a turning point for so many people, on various continents, of various religions. That year was monumental to world history.
It was a very busy year for Ferdinand and Isabella. So much to do, so little time.
One can just imagine their "to-do" list:
1. Get that pesky Muhammad XII to finally surrender Granada. Take the Alhambra. Check.
2. End the 780 year rule of Al-Andulas by the Muslims. Take their cities. Check.
3. Expel all the Jews from Spain. Take whatever gets left behind. Check.
4. Send Christopher Columbus out to conquer more lands and people. Take their goods. Check.
The odd thing is that historians believe that that the first Jews to settle in Puerto Rico came with Christopher Columbus. More on that when I get to Puerto Rico...(see next few posts)
When Muhammad XII lost the Alhambra, his mother said, "Thou dost weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man." Ouch.
Granada is a conquered city. To the conquerers go the churches and the monuments. The second largest cathedral in Spain is here, built on top of a destroyed mosque. However, the really big Christian attraction here is the Royal Chapel. Isabella and Ferdinand are entombed here - forever stamping Granada as theirs.
I left Granada knowing that I could travel on my own and it would be fine. That I could do it alone if I had to....which turned out to be a very important lesson. I celebrated with tapas and wine on my last night there. It was delicious. Just like Spain.
I wandered through the neighborhood, sort of vaguely aware of where I was headed. But then on the way down I got completely turned around. I thought I was in one place, but was in another.
I hate it when that happens.
I meandered a little, then stopped two older, elegantly dressed ladies. I asked them if they could help me. They told me how to get back to my hotel - in Spanish. I nodded along, then pointed up the street. They promptly pointed in the opposite direction and we all laughed.
The next morning, I walked to the entrance of the Alhambra in the dark, and was the fourth person in line. I wanted to see Muslim Spain, to see history.
The Alhambra is covered in poetry. The poet to the court, Ibn Zamrak (1333-1393), has his most famous poems engraved right onto the buildings. It is as if the Alhambra is whispering in Arabic to you. Confiding in you. Sweet nothings. Revealing, self confident, even haughty sweet nothings. The poetry is in voice of the Alhambra.
"I am the garden appearing every morning with adorned beauty; contemplate my beauty and you will be penetrated with understanding."
"And the bright stars would like to establish themselves firmly in it rather than to continue wandering about in the vault of the sky."
One book I read on the subject put it nicely: "The walls are covered with the incantation 'There is no victor but God,' obsessively repeated, and with the words of the Quran, but one can also read there the poetry of the Nasrid courts, so that the last chapter of Arabic poetry in Spain is literally written into the walls of this memory palace." - from The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal
Consider the year 1492. It was a turning point for so many people, on various continents, of various religions. That year was monumental to world history.
It was a very busy year for Ferdinand and Isabella. So much to do, so little time.
One can just imagine their "to-do" list:
1. Get that pesky Muhammad XII to finally surrender Granada. Take the Alhambra. Check.
2. End the 780 year rule of Al-Andulas by the Muslims. Take their cities. Check.
3. Expel all the Jews from Spain. Take whatever gets left behind. Check.
4. Send Christopher Columbus out to conquer more lands and people. Take their goods. Check.
The odd thing is that historians believe that that the first Jews to settle in Puerto Rico came with Christopher Columbus. More on that when I get to Puerto Rico...(see next few posts)
When Muhammad XII lost the Alhambra, his mother said, "Thou dost weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man." Ouch.
Granada is a conquered city. To the conquerers go the churches and the monuments. The second largest cathedral in Spain is here, built on top of a destroyed mosque. However, the really big Christian attraction here is the Royal Chapel. Isabella and Ferdinand are entombed here - forever stamping Granada as theirs.
I left Granada knowing that I could travel on my own and it would be fine. That I could do it alone if I had to....which turned out to be a very important lesson. I celebrated with tapas and wine on my last night there. It was delicious. Just like Spain.
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