Alhambra: The Fortress Part 1

The Alhambra was used by multiple Moor controlled Granada kingdoms. Over the years they added various parts but for its common purpose it has always been both a palace and fortress. For the first part of this week's "lightning strike blog explosion" I'll focus on how I saw and appreciated the Alhambra as a defensive stronghold. Starting first with the approach to the "red castle" on the Cuesta del Chico Rey or  Cuesta de los Chinos (Chico Rey is the official but people know it as Cuesta de los Chinos)

Alhambra has two paths that lead up the hill where the castle sits. The one I chose started along a path that parrelled the river that goes through Granada. The path was really great and seemed much more remote than the other route that I would end up taking down.

The Cuesta del Rey Chico was pretty much empty when I walked up around noon. It was still very wet from the rain and a mist covered the surrounding hills and forest that made the red brick of the castle even more mystical. As I went it became apparent that the path was more of a moat then anything else.

 The huge walls and towers that surrounded the path were very intimidating and I remembered thinking how difficult it would have been to run up this hill let alone get over a huge wall with defenders  

 These defensives were made for to resist a siege and its position on the hill gave it the added advantage of being able to have more range to attack the besiegers.

The rainfall gave me an added perspective of seeing how the castle would deal with water. Not only as a drainage issue but for drinking and the amazing ponds that occupy the palace portion of Alhambra. These drainage streams ran off steams led away from the Alhambra using gravity as its pumping mechanism to keep the castle from flooding and probably preserving the castle integrity against landslides.

At the end of my day I decided to go down the other side of Alhambra. This side was very different from than the Cuesta del Rey Chico. It still gave the feeling of smallness compared to the wall but the amount of people and the fact that cars were driving next to the footpath made it a different experience. Still the Puerta de Justicia made for an impressive look at what the established entrances of castles looked like.

One of the other main gates to the Alhambra, the Puerta is a sunken in door which allowed defenders to throw rocks, oil or arrows directly down upon anyone who would be trying to break down the door. The windows also showed some tactical brillance in design, as the angle would prevent object from being thrown inside if an enemy was coming directly at the castle. The only way one could throw or shoot something inside would be if they go close enough to the other walls to get the right angle; leaving them exposed to the defenders on walls directly above.

The arrow slots were alose interesting. Typical medieval castles used a cross for single arrow window however this one is more of a rain drop form probably because it was designed by Moorish kings and reflect an Islamic style. The advantage still exists, with its small opening which would give it limited exposure to enemy attack.

The walk down the hill also gave two commemorations to Washington Irving for his work in bringing about the restoration of the Alhambra. Evidently during the 1800's it fell into disrepair and was largely unoccupied by anyone except robbers and thieves. However Irving decided to move in and because of his books the site was reclaimed a national treasure.

Next time: The view from the walls of Alhambra

Very subtle but this is the hand of Fatima to protect against the "evil eye"