The Nasrid Palaces III - the Palace of the Lions

03-03-2018   Events Alhambra

In the Palace of the Lions you find the zenith of Nasrid architecture and decoration

And finally, our guided tour of the Alhambra takes us to the Palace of the Lions. In this palace, we will find the zenith of Nasrid architecture and decoration that reached its most critical moment in the hand of the Sultan who had had it built, Muhammad V (1354 / 59-1362 / 91). The lacework of the plasterwork, its tiling, its stalactite roofs and above all the balance of its proportions will make us believe that we are truly in paradise.

Called the palace of Riyadh everything is arranged around its beautiful courtyard. It was a palace destined to residence of Muhammad V where parties or poetic and musical evenings were celebrated. Its porticoed courtyard with 124 slender columns gives way to four main rooms: the Mocarabs room, the Abencerrajes, the Reyes (kings) and Dos Hermanas (two sisters).

The name of the palace is due to the central fountain, the universal image of the Alhambra, with its twelve white marble lions. The magnificent dome of mocarabs stands out in the Abencerrajes hall and above all, the belvedere de Lindaraja in the Dos Hermanas room. Carved in the upper part of the fountain cup, we find one of the beautiful poems of the Alhambra, the most beautiful description of the Fountain of the Lions:

“May The One who granted the imam Mohammed
with the beautiful ideas to decorate his mansions be blessed.
For, ¿are there not in this garden wonders
that God has made incomparable in their beauty,
and a sculpture of pearls with a transparently light,
the borders of which are trimmed with seed pearl?
Melted silver flows through the pearls,
to which it resembles in its pure dawn beauty.
Apparently, water and marble seem to be one,
without letting us know which of them is flowing.
Don't you see how the water spills on the basin,
but its spouts hide it immediately?
It is a lover whose eyelids are brimming over with tears,
tears that it hides from fear of a betrayer.
¿Isn't it, in fact, like a white cloud
that pours its water channels on the lions
and seems the hand of the caliph, who, in the morning,
grants the war lions with his favours?
Those who gaze at the lions in a threatening attitude,
(knows that) only respect (to the Emir) holds his anger.
¡Oh descendant of the Ansares, and not through an indirect line,
heritage of nobility, who despises the fatuous:
May the peace of God be with you and may your life be long and unscathed
multiplying your feasts and tormenting your enemies!”

Ibn Zamrak