So, we come to the second most famous courtyard of the Alhambra, only to find it all under repairs, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
This is the Courtyard of the Lions.
The central fountain containing the 12 white, alabaster lions has been dismantled and all of the plumbing and water reticulation systems are being renewed. The lions have gone to the museum for special restoration. But while they were digging, important archeological finds were made and this has delayed completion. The lions are ready to return but the courtyard is still "a work in progress".
In the museum, we saw photographs of snow in this courtyard. It is hard to imagine snow here when it is currently 40 degrees in the shade.
In the museum, we saw photographs of snow in this courtyard. It is hard to imagine snow here when it is currently 40 degrees in the shade.
You can still see the deep verandas of colonnade around the edges.
This section of the ceiling of the colonnade is also marked for restoration.
This was the best photo I could get of the colonnade surrounding the courtyard.
Detail of the colonnade pillars and ceilings.
And all too soon our hour in the Nasrid palaces was over.
Next stop was the circular Renaissance Palace built by Charles V, who married Isabella of Portugal, and lived at La Alhambra from 1500 to 1558. It is in excellent condition. The internal court, which has fabulous acoustics, is now used for music events; the upper levels are the Granada Museum of Fine Arts and the lower level is the Museum of the Alhambra. Unfortunately this latter museum closes at 2.00 pm daily, and we missed it.
After all of this it was about 2.30 pm and incredibly hot. So we wandered through some lovely cool garden terraces to find something to eat and drink.
Still much more ….
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