Spain Trip May 2025 - Part 13 Nasrid Palaces at the Alhambra, Granada

The last hour before closing at 8pm was spent visiting the Nasrid Palaces, a group of several palaces, although during the visit it was impossible to know which was which as they were not marked. It explains why there are different decorative features from room to room - though one thing they all share is that they are incredibly ornate. The palaces were built in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Nasrid dynasty, the last muslim dynasty in Spain, as a symbol of their power and wealth.

To see these palaces you must book a time slot well in advance of the day you want to visit the Alhambra. I booked about two weeks in advance and could only get the 7pm slot, but of course when you are on a touring holiday you can't always be sure where you are going to be, and when, which is why I didn't book earlier.

You start off in the Mexuar, which served as the entrance wing for the Comares Palace. The Mexuar pictures are the ones on the right; the left one and the one of the wooden ceiling below that are in the Comares Palace. The Mexuar has rather low ceilings compared to the other rooms we went through.

There are several courtyards, all of which have fountains or pools. This is the Courtyard of the Gilded Room and this wall is known as the Comares Facade, one of the most heavily decorated walls at the Alhambra.

  On the left is the Court of the Myrtles, a part of the Comares Palace.

This style of three dimensional carved stucco wall and ceiling decoration is known as Muqarnas, and is very typical of Islamic architecture. I think it's fabulous and I particularly like the blue colour here!

The stucco work above with tiled floor and lower wall is common in these palaces.

You end up getting a stiff neck looking at these amazing rooms!

The top picture below is the Hall of the Ambassadors, where the throne was and where official receptions took place.

It's worth opening up this picture to read about the restoration work.

The Court of the Lions is a palace but as a tourist, you just wander from room to room not knowing which palace you are in. It's only when you come out into a courtyard like this that you can discover which palace it is (from online information).

The 'lions' in the Court of the Lions. To me, they look more like dogs! The building bottom right is after we exited the palaces and it's impossible to know if it is the exterior of one of them or one of the more recent buildings.

These photos were on display which show restoration work that was carried out in the 1920s.

More beautiful buildings and gardens after we came out of the palaces.

As it was close to site closing time we were being shooed out by staff members which annoyed me, as I wanted to take photos! Which I did. And then we headed off back to the entrance area to leave, only to find it was blocked off! There were still a number of people wandering around but all the staff seemed to have disappeared by now. We (and a group of other people) tried to leave from another exit only to find that one was locked too! We ended up wandering around for a while wondering what on earth was going on, though thankfully eventually someone found a small exit into a side street off the main complex. You would think they would have signs pointing towards the exit, wouldn't you?!

It was around 9pm by the time we got back to the campsite and it had been a long day, but a really worthwhile one. The Alhambra is certainly a place to remember and I would encourage anyone going to this part of Spain to visit it!