Generalife Gardens

The Palacio de Generalife (Jannat al-‘Arīf, literally, "Architect's Garden") was the summer palace and country estate of theNasrid Emirs (Kings) of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, now beside the city of Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia,Spain.

History

The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302–1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma'il (1313–1324). It is an example of a traditional Spanish garden which is a style of garden or designed landscape developed in historic Spain, incorporating principles and elements of garden design from precedents in ancient Persian gardens, Roman gardens and Islamic gardens, and the great Moorish gardens of the Al-Andalus era on the Iberian Peninsula.

Tradition

Traditionally the paradise garden is interpreted with a central cross axis, in the four cardinal directions, with long ponds or water channels (a rill or stylized qanat) where water reflects and flows, set in a walled courtyard. The remaining quadrants often had fruit trees and fragrant plants. Thus, characteristic sensory experiences are refreshing coolness, humidity, sounds, greenery, and fragrance. This type of garden is compatible with the Spanish climate of sun and heat. Provisions for shade are given with the use of arcades, pergolas, trellising, and garden pavilions. Ceramic elements and tiles are often used: in water features; for structural, decorative, and seating elements; and as paving; with solid fields, embellishments and accents; and in pottery. A clarity from the symmetrical simplicity often results

Design

The complex consists of the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard), which has a long pool framed by flowerbeds, fountains, colonnades and pavilions, and the Jardín de la Sultana (Sultana's Garden or Courtyard of the Cypress). The former is thought to best preserve the style of the medieval Persian garden in Al-Andalus.

Originally the palace was linked to the Alhambra by a covered walkway across the ravine that now divides them. The Generalife is one of the oldest surviving Moorish gardens

20th century

The present-day gardens were started in 1931 and completed by Francisco Prieto Moreno in 1951. The walkways are paved in traditional Granadian style with a mosaic of pebbles: white ones from the River Darroand black ones from the River Genil.

Architectural Properties:

Garden as the rectangular enclosure surrounded by high walls Quadripartite division through a cruciform plan The importance of vistas from the centrally-located pavilions The soliloquies of the architectural elements

Water Uses

Central collecting, deep pool or distribution point(taqsim) Irrigation by channelsincorporated in walkways Sunken bowls at end of channels

Single stream jets

Characteristics of the garden:

Contains flowers and medical herbs, evergreen and fruit trees and vines Flower beds are sunk both for aesthetic and irrigation purposes

Description of garden

1.The Low Gardens

After the Generalife was definitively attached to the Alhambra, public opinion was mustered to build a public park. The area between the Alhambra and the Generalife Palace was built up and landscaped gardens were added. 

The zone was simultaneously divided into the three parts that constitute the New Garden (Jardines Nuevos) today. In 1931 a section resembling a labyrinth garden, with arched rose gardens and cypress trees, was finished near the building; in 1951 the section was extended in accordance with the architect Prieto Moreno's design for a Muslim-style garden, with an irrigation channel crossing, streets, cypress lined walls, a pergola and a view of both the Alhambra and the city. 

Finally, in 1952, the outdoor amphitheatre was built for the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance, which as been held there ever since

2.The General life Palace

The entrance to the Generalife is interesting for two reasons. On the one hand, its exterior part is rural, befitting a country house more than a palace; on the other hand, various courts had to be traversed at different levels in order to reach the interior of the Alhambra palace itself. 

The entrance is currently denominated the Court of the Dismount (Patio del Descabalgamiento) owing to the presence of footrests that facilitate horse riders in their dismount. Also on hand are two side buildings, which were probably used by stable hands. 

1. Low Garden2. Generalife place3. The Main Court Canal4. The Sultans Court5. The Water Starway6. The Observation Point7. The High Gardens8. The Promenade of Oleanders9. The Water Ponds10. The Promenade of Cypress trees11. The Generalife Theater

Once entrance was gained, the visitor would have to climb a stairway past the security guard benches, toward a room above, with a control window. 

The second court, which underwent changes, is located at the top and surrounded by arched galleries, except for in the front, where access to the interior of the palace is gained.

Entrance to the palace itself is through a tiny door, today partially hidden by undergrowth and embedded in traces of marble, with a tiled lintel and the ever present arch-key marking. From there, a steep narrow stairway leads to a residence, connected to the Court of the Main Canal (Patio de la Acequia), called the North Pavilion (Pabellón Norte), which in turn leads to an arcaded gallery, with five arches and bedchambers, and on to the Royal Chamber (Sala Regia) and the observation point of Ismail I. 

The Main Canal Court

It draws water from the Royal Canal (Acequia Real), the principal hydraulic source for the entire historical-artistic monument complex. The court channel was originally in the shape of a crossing, like the one in the Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones), supplying water to four oblique parterres.

These famous crossing jets, which have been copied the world over, were, however, only installed in the 19th century. Nevertheless, an archaeological excavation in 1958 revealed that at one time it had twelve spouts. Being completely closed in, the court once had an intimate quality about it, which later reforms to it have sacrificed

In addition to the arcaded pavilions on the sides, there were also one storey dwellings, if only on the west side, which were badly damaged in a fire in 1958 that later prompted the earlier mentioned excavation. The Court of the Main Canal (Patio de la Acequia) was designed as an interior garden, with the exception of the small lookout point on the west side, adjacent to the central arbour

The side part was originally enclosed by a high wall with a continuous eave, which was destroyed during the Christian era. Some of the remains can be seen at both ends. As a result, it was transformed into a sort of belvedere when the landscape appeared, and the intimate quality of the place was lost

Added to the length of the court was a narrow open corridor with arches and the figures of the Catholic Monarchs, a yoke and arrows painted on the intrados along with the well-known expression, "It's all the same" ("Tanto Monta"). Originally, the central observation point must have been the only opening to the outside in the court, which to this day preserves the lavish plasterwork decoration from the time of Sultan Isma'il I (1314-1325

The Soultana's Court

Crossing the side bedroom of the Royal Chamber you ascend to an open corridor called the Court of the Sultana's Cypress Tree. 

The arcaded structure dates back to 1584. In front of it is an intimate court and a garden with a baroque flare to it. The area was originally the site of the now disappeared Palace Bath. Water from the irrigation canal, which at one time probably filled it while flowing to the adjacent courtyard, can still be seen pouring through a gap in the side wall. 

In the centre is a U-shaped pool of water, in the middle of which in the 19th century there used to be a smaller pool, with a stone fountain. 

Water jets can be found all over historical-artistic monuments site, shooting water into the air and refreshing the environment the way the Ambassador of the Venetian Republic, Venecia Andrea Navaggiero, reported seeing in 1526 when he visited the Generalife. 

A tiny door on the south side of the site leads back to the Court of the Main Canal, and the rest of the Historic-Artistic Monuments Complex. 

If you have time, and are willing to climb some more stairs, a visit to the upper part of the Generalife site is worth a visit. It can be reached by going through the door at the centre of the court, in front of the gallery.

The Water Starway

It is a small stairway that is protected by vaulting laurel trees, designed in a way that would suit the needs of a medieval sultan.

To reach the highest part of the Generalife you take the Water Stairway, leftover if substantially altered-from an earlier site, famous for its water, which flowed from the Sultan's Canal through pipes in the walls. 

Water once flowed into three circular basins from as many pipes, now lost; however, water from the Royal Canal continues to flow down inverted pan tiles along the stairway parapets.

 The Promenade of the oleanders

The Promenade of the Oleanders is connected to the Promenade of the Cypress Trees.The Promenade of the Oleanders is a long path, covered with oleander, that crosses the upper wall that separates the vegetable gardens. It runs into the Promenade of the Cypress Trees.

The High Gardens

The gardens can be reached by taking the Stairway of the Lions, so called because of the two ceramic figures atop the door. The stairway dates back to the 19th century, when the steep steps were mounted to the top of the Generalife High Gardens. 

The Gardens, spread across several terraces in the palatial area of the Generalife and protecting the palace at its highest point, offer a marvellous view of the entire site. 

Tiny fountains with jets can be seen in the nearby parterres, with lovely specimens of magnolia trees, scented shrubs, and a carefully laid out selection of evergreen and deciduous trees that protect against the cold winds from the north the gardens, including a small, romantic botanical garden of the European humanist sort. 

A visit to this area will highlight the visible contrast that exists within the Alhambra Historical-Artistic Monuments Complex, which brings together Medieval and Renaissance styles, both with traces of nostalgic Romanticism that can be appreciated here as perhaps nowhere else. 

It is for this reason that a visit to the highest gardens is a must, following the Muslim stairway and descending the very much Europeanized terraced pergola.

The Water Ponds

The hydraulic system in the Alhambra depends on the Sultan's Canal, which carries water from the Darro River to the Generalife, and from there, by aqueduct to the Alhambra. 

The Nasrid sultans left various areas for agriculture and livestock breeding, of which the Generalife, with its large vegetable gardens and a palace, was nearest to the Alhambra. 

The irrigation channel ran parallel to the walls of the vegetable gardens. At one point the water was conducted through a perpendicular underground gallery, a deep well, a waterwheel and a large pool, in order for it to reach the highest cultivation area. 

The underground gallery ends in a well below a tower, called Tower of the Ladies, which was built to protect it and to support the waterwheel. Brick platforms surround the pool, and there is a stairway to a terrace that must have been an observation point or a pavilion over the Water Pond. 

As a result of the recovery of the Alhambra and its heritage in 1926, a new Water pond was built beside the Nasrid structure in order to increase the water pressure along the entire circuit. In the 1960s, with the increase of tourism, a third Water pond (Albercón) was built.

The Promenade of Cypress Trees

Following the Promenade pf the Oleander, the Promenade of the Cypress Trees takes the visitors to the place of exit.

The Promenade of cypress trees which as it name suggests is lined with cypress trees, starts at the end of the promenade of the oleander and ends at the place of exit

The high gardens

The main Canal court

The promenade of cypress trees