What do Sultans, Queens, Christopher Columbus and camera-wielding tourists all have in common?  Standing in awe of Granada’s gem of Moorish architecture:  The Alhambra.

I’d wanted to visit for the last 6 years, and on a perfect sunny day in November, ticket in hand, I climbed the short tree-laiden path to the entrance.  What follows is a short (~3 minutes) video tour, in Spanish with English subtitles, of two parts of the immense fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the south of Spain.

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Part 1:  Of COURSE I need a summer house next to my palace (Generalife, summer house, 51 secs)

Huge palace, equipped with gardens, not quite enough?  I didn’t think so.  Let’s build a gorgeous summer house a few minutes’ walk away, shall we?

The immense summer house and accompanying gardens:  Generalife (see video below).

 

(Can’t see the video?  –> Click here)

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Part 2:  The Nasarid Palaces (1 min 51 secs)

Wonderfully decorated, frequently visited and the most important spot in the Alhambra to visit (you even have to go in at a specific, regimented time), the palaces are beautiful.  Only a small-ish section of the palaces are accessible to the general public, but this is more than enough to get a taste of what the sultans, queens and sultans who lived here had as their surroundings.  It’s also where Columbus was given the go-ahead to take a trip to India, which resulted in the discovery of the Americas.  See video below.

Can’t see the video?  –> Click here)

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As you can see, this isn’t a video tour of the entire complex (it’s a big place!).  If you’d like to see some more photos, follow this link to Flickr (tip: you can see another important part of the fortress:  the towers from which the owners spotted would-be invaders).

Question: Visited the Alhambra already, or want to go there?  Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.