I made a special trip down to Granada on the advice of my first wife, Hetty, who told me in no uncertain terms that it was a palace definitely not to be missed. As it turned out she was right. The Alhambra Palace dates back to around the seventh century when the Moors came up from North Africa to dominate Spain and Portugal.
As Muslims they also spread their form of religion and culture throughout the area, which is most evident in the oldest of architecture found on the palace grounds. The garden areas and reflective pools are quite stunning and truly artistic. I find it difficult to describe with words the planning and subsequent beauty of the grounds so luckily I took lots of pictures. I was not alone in viewing the palace, cues were everywhere from the entrance gate to “allotted” times to enter certain cathedrals, if you missed your time slot, sorry, lo siento.
Tour groups were speedily led through the various attractions. I found that if you entered right after one left you would have a much quieter and reflective experience. Part of the history of the Palace was that it was taken over by the Christians in the eleventh century. Their influence is blended into much of the previous styles leaving a unique blend of Muslim and Christian. The quiet reflective times that I found between groups allowed me to ponder our own twenty-first century experience of Muslim and Christian differences. Is their anything that we can learn from the past that could possibly help today? I also found that sitting for long periods of time in certain areas gave me the chance to notice more subtle aspects of the palace, designs, patterns, faces in thousands of reliefs in one doorway. Many ceilings were definitely inspired by the heavens, looking up it often appeared like staring into a dark starry sky.
Evidence of much of the Arab family structure remains in the central communal living spaces that make up their homes, evidently this type of situation remains an important part of the culture to this day.
The later Christian influence is evident in the way their homes within the walled compound differed. One lasting impression that both cultures left upon me was the significance of structure, artistic appreciation, and reverence of natural beauty that were of extreme importance to both peoples.
I suppose that many of those same values are still do this day “shared” by both Muslims and Christians. My question would be is it that important to press the issues of difference to such an extent that it denies the possibility of some form of peaceful coexistence here and now in our time? Or are we destined to repeat the history of the forefathers on both sides of the issue?
I was very glad to have spent the time to visit Granada and experience the awe of a place like the Alhambra, I don’t know if I will ever visit there again, however, the feelings, the inspiring thoughts and of course the photos will serve as a reminder of one outstanding day in life.
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