Alhambra Palace

Alhambra Palace

History 

The name Alhambra, signifying in Arabic the red (Al Hamra ‫الحمراء‬,( derives from the colour of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed; however, the buildings now seen today are reddish. The first reference to the Qal’at al Hamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of the Abdallah (who reigned from 888-912). In one particularly fierce and bloody skirmish, the Muladies soundly defeated the Arabs who were then forced to take shelter in a primitive red castle located in the province of Elvira, nowadays located in Granada. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small and its walls were not capable of deterring army intent on conquering. The castle was then largely ignored until the eleventh century when its ruins were renovated and rebuilt by Samuel ibn Naghralla, vizier to the King Bādīs of the Zirid Dynasty, in an attempt to preserve the small Jewish settlement also located on the Sabikah hill. However, evidence from Arab texts indicates that the fortress was easily penetrated and that the actual Alhambra that survives today was built during the Nasrid Dynasty.

Alhambra