VISIT TO THE ALHAMBRA by Inma Cano & Lisa Calabrese

Last Wednesday, 10 February, we went to visit the Alhambra.

I love to visit this monument. The more I go, the more I like it.

This time we did a special visit with the students from 3rd Eso and 4th ESO.

At the beginning we visited The Generalife. It was the country residence of the sultan, the orchard which provided the palaces with food supplies, and a recreational area for the nobility.

After the conquest in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs assigned a keeper to watch over the area and make improvements. In 1631 the keeper’s charge was given to the Granada-Venegas family , until 1921, when the state, after a long drawn out legal battle, was finally awarded custody of the premises.

After breakfast we visited "La Torre de La Vela" in The Alcazaba. It was the residential area of the royal guard in charge of the security of the palatial city.

Then we went to the Palaces, where the students had to find some geometric shapes in the walls. As you know, Muslims avoid making images of living creatures. We can see the mosaics in the walls as tessellations.

A tessellation of a flat surface is the tiling of a plane using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps. In other words, a pattern of shapes that fit perfectly together !

 Examples:

    

NOW YOU CAN READ LISA´S CONTRIBUTION TO THIS ARTICLE:

Last week I was lucky enough to join the 3^rd and 4^th ESO classes in their visit to the Alhambra. Having been in Granada for a few months now, it was due time for me to finally visit this famous monument the city is known for.  

Walking into the Generalife at the beginning of the day, I realized how impressive the sheer size of this place is. One could spend an entire day here and still not see everything. The gardens are lovely to explore and offer beautiful views of the rest of the Alhambra and parts of Granada.

We then climbed up ‘La Torre de La Vela’ and were met with incredibly impressive 360-degree views of the city below. Even on a gloomy day, it was absolutely beautiful.

Our next and final stop before heading back to school was the Palace. The attention to detail in the mosaics and engravings in the stone is really incredible. The various tessellations in the tiles are beautiful as well as interesting.

All in all, it was a fantastic visit. Inma was a great guide, and I learned quite a bit about the history of the Alhambra and the aspects inside of it. I’m happy to say the Alhambra exceeded all my expectations and I’m sure I’ll be back soon. 

THANKS LISA!!! WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME!!!