Part 16

**=Hall of the Ambassadors= (_Sala de los Embajadores_), a room in two stories, 36 ft. square and 59 ft. high, once the royal reception room. The last meeting of the Moors under Boabdil, before the capitulation of Granada, was held here in 1491. Inscriptions record that Yûsuf I. was the builder. The larch-wood dome of the hall has been compared to the facetted surface of a cut diamond. The immense thickness of the walls is apparent from the depth of the window-niches, each of which affords a different view. The central windows (so-called _Ajimez_, Arabic _khamsîya_) are each divided into two by a slender column. This hall is one of the most richly decorated in the Alhambra.

From the first window-niche on the right in the S.E. wall a passage leads to the _Peinador de la Reina_ (p. 86) and to the lower floor.

We return to the Myrtle Court and (as indicated above) pass through the Sala de los Mocárabes into the—

**=Court of the Lions= (_Patio de Los Leones_), which owes its name to the _Fuente de los Leones_, a famous fountain borne by twelve lions. The building was begun by Mohammed V. in 1377. The court, 92 by 52 ft., is bordered all round with a colonnade, from which at each end protrudes a superb domed pavilion. The columns are alternately single and grouped. The tasteful elegance of this court, originally shaded by six orange-trees, contrasts strikingly with the showy pomp of the Myrtle Court. The fretwork decoration in stucco looks like carved ivory. Besides the lion-fountain, the court contains, at the ends of the arcade, eight flat marble fountain-basins. The fountains play on a few festival-days only.

The Court of the Lions, whose upper floor contained the women’s apartments, restored in 1907, is adjoined by handsome rooms all round. On the N.W. side is the present ante-room of the court, called the—

=Sala de los Mocárabes=, 72 ft. long, but only 13 ft. wide. The handsome barrel-vaulting in the Renaissance style was added after an explosion of gunpowder in 1614, but remains of the old dome and mural decoration have been brought to light.

The *=Hall of the Abencerrages=, to the S.W. of the Lions’ Court, derives its name from a noble family (p. 75), whose leading members, as the story goes, were beheaded at the fountain in the centre of this hall on account of an intrigue of Hamet, their chief, with king Boabdil’s wife. We note specially the magnificent door of entrance, and the curious way in which it is fitted to the doorposts. The central part of the hall rises in three stories, upon which open two lower alcoves with beautiful toothed arches and coffered ceilings. Over the gallery of the second story eight stalactite pendentives form the transition to the sixteen-sided third story, whose windows diffuse a subdued light. Lastly, the hall is roofed with massive stalactite vaulting.

Adjoining the Hall of the Abencerrages, on the left and right, are the _Patinillo_ and the _Aljibe_ or cistern.

The *=Sala de la Justicia= (also called _Sala del Tribunal_ or _de los Reyes_), on the S.E. side of the Court of the Lions, is a hall in seven sections, with three arched entrances from the court, each divided by two columns. Between these open sections, which are roofed with lofty domes lighted from above, are two lower chambers. Adjoining the ends and the E. side are side-rooms or alcoves, some of them dark. The whole of this hall, with its honeycomb vaulting and stalactite arches, presents the appearance of some fantastic grotto.

The three larger side-rooms have ceiling-paintings of the early 15th century. The central picture, which has given rise to the different names of the hall (‘hall of justice’, ‘hall of the kings’, etc.), probably represents the first ten kings of Granada, beginning with Mohammed I., or, according to others, a meeting of council, or a court of justice. The paintings in the two other alcoves depict hunting and jousting scenes.

In the central alcove is a Moorish _Trough_ (pila) of 1306, with curious reliefs of lions devouring stags, of eagles, etc.—The alabaster _Tombstones_ in the alcove at the S.W. end of the hall are from the _Rauda_, the dilapidated royal vault of the Alhambra.

Opposite the Hall of the Abencerrages we ascend from the N.E. side of the Court of the Lions by a narrow passage (_pasadizo_) to the—

**=Sala de las Dos Hermanas= (_Hall of the Two Sisters_), which lies in the same axis as the Sala de los Ajimeces and Mirador de Daraxa, two other rooms situated at a higher level. This suite of rooms seems to have formed the winter residence of the ruler’s harem. The chief of these, whose ornamentation is perhaps the most exquisite in the Alhambra, has its name from the two marble slabs in the pavement. In

## particular we admire the beautiful doors, the mural decoration in

stucco, and above all the honeycomb vaulting, the largest of all Arab roofs of the kind.

In a corner of the hall stands the *_Alhambra Vase_ (‘el jarro de la Alhambra’), 4 ft. 5 in. in height, dating from 1320, and adorned with enamel, figures of animals (gazelles?), etc.

We next pass through the _Sala de los Ajimeces_, with its ajimeces (p. 83) and fine vaulting (a closed passage on the left leads hence to the Peinador de la Reina and the Patio de la Reja, p. 86), to the—

*=Mirador de Daraxa= (‘entrance-room’). This charming bay has three windows, reaching nearly to the ground and overlooking the Patio de Daraxa (p. 86).

We may now return through the Court of the Lions to the Myrtle Court, and from the N.W. side (as indicated at p. 83) of the latter descend through the _Zaguán_ or forecourt to the =Patio del Mexuar=, lying 13 ft. lower. This is the oldest part of the Alhambra. On the N.E. side of the court is a pleasing _Atrium_, with columns and a horseshoe arch of 1522. The adjacent _Cuarto Dorado_ also has Mudejar decoration of the time of Charles V.

The =Mexuar= (Arabic _meshwâr_, council-chamber), now the _Capilla_, was fitted up as such in 1537–44, but not used as the palace chapel till 1629. During the Moorish period it perhaps served as an audience chamber or law-court, and the gallery as a meeting-place for the council of state.—A modern door leads into the _Mosala_, the Moorish chapel built by Mohammed V., which belonged to the old _Cuarto de Machuca_ (p. 80), now almost entirely occupied by gardens.

Nearly opposite the Christian Chapel in the Mexuar Court is the underground _Viaduct_ leading to the Baths (right) and to the Patio de la Reja.

The extensive subterranean *=Baths= (_Baños_), to the N.E. of the Myrtle Court, in the style of those of ancient Rome (comp. p. 290), date from the time of Yûsuf I. The first room, now freely restored, resembling an Apodyterium, is the _Sala de las Camas_ or _de los Divanes_, with two niches for couches, and is remarkable for its graceful superstructure. The gallery was destined for the singing girls. The chief bath-chamber (_cuartos y sudoríficos_) corresponds to the Tepidarium, and marble baths still exist. The heating apparatus (_calorífero_) has been destroyed.

From the Sala de las Camas we enter the *=Patio de Daraxa= (p. 85), planted with cypresses, formerly the inner garden of the palace, but altered by Charles V. Only the upper basin of the fountain is Moorish. The rooms on the upper floor (_Aposentos de Carlos Quinto_) contain the Alhambra archives.

The small _Patio de la Reja_, with its fountain and four cypresses, so called from its window-gratings, dates only from 1654–55.—The stairs at the N.E. corner lead (left) to the Hall of the Ambassadors (p. 83), and (right) to a new corridor which brings us to the—

*=Peinador de la Reina= (the ‘Queen’s Dressing-room’), on the upper floor of the _Torre del Peinador_ erected by Yûsuf I. The ‘grotesque’ paintings, in the style of the Vatican logge, and the scenes from Charles V.’s expedition to Tunis (p. 323) are by _Julio de Aquilés_ and _Alex. Mayner_.

* * * * *

The *=Palace of Charles V.= (Pl. 17, E, 2; entrance, see p. 83) is a massive square pile of 207 ft. each way and 57 ft. in height, with a heavy rustica groundfloor and an upper story of the Ionic order, terminating in a Doric cornice. The building was designed by _Pedro Machuca_ in the Italian high-Renaissance style, in 1526, and its cost was defrayed out of the tribute paid by the Moors. The only completed parts are the façades, the superb circular colonnaded court, of the Doric order below and the Ionic above, and the main staircase, which was not finished till 1635. The richly sculptured W. and S. portals, executed by many different masters, are specially attractive.

Passing round the S. side of the palace of Charles V., we cross the Plaza de los Alămos to the church of _Santa María_ (Pl. 18; E, F, 2), which stands on the site of the _Mezquita Real_ or Alhambra mosque.

The buildings of the =Alta Alhambra= (p. 79) also present several features of interest. To the N. of Santa María we cross the Alameda, pass (on the left) the ruins of the Rauda (p. 85) and the outside of the Court of the Lions, and then descend to the left to the _Torre de las Damas_ (Pl. 20; E, 2), a fortified tower of the time of Yûsuf I., restored in 1907–8, with a sumptuous interior. Fine view from the Mirador (p. 87).—A few paces to the E. lies the =Carmen de Arratía=, a private house with a charming garden (above the gate is the inscription ‘Mezquita árabe de la Alhambra’). The house contains a _Moorish Chapel_, also dating from the time of Yûsuf I., with an elegant mihrâb or prayer-niche.

Farther on in the same direction we come to the _Torre de los Picos_ (Pl. 21; F, 2) and cross a bastion (_baluarte_) to the =Puerta de Hierro= (Pl. 22; F, 2), restored by the ‘Catholic kings’, which forms the entrance to the Alhambra from the Cuesta del Rey Chico (p. 78).

On the margin of the plateau above this road are four towers, the two finest of which, time permitting, we may visit under the guidance of the custodian, who lives in the Torre de la Pólvora. These are the =Torre de la Cautiva= (Pl. 23; F, 2), the chief room in which vies with the sumptuous halls of the Alhambra palace itself, and the _Torre de las Infantas_ (Pl. 24; F, 2), an excellent point of view.

On the S.W. margin of the plateau, beyond the _Torre del Agua_ (Pl. 25; F, 2), where towards evening we have a splendid view of the town, the Vega, and the Sierra Nevada, is a bastion above which rises the _Puerta de los Siete Suelos_ (Pl. 26; F, 2). By this gate Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings (p. 75), made his final exit from the Alhambra.

d. The Generalife.

At the foot of the _Cerro del Sol_, to the E. of the Alhambra, about 160 ft. above the Alhambra Hill, rises the *=Palacio de Generalife= (Pl. E, F, 1), once the famous summer residence of the Moorish kings, and now owned by the Marquesa de Campotéjar (p. 77). The name is a corruption of the Arabic _Jennat al-Arîf_, ‘garden of Arîf’, the original owner. According to the inscription it was redecorated by order of Abu’l-Walîd Ismaîl in 1319, but in 1494 it was altered and enlarged by Queen Isabella. The interior is very dilapidated; the ornamentation, which is about half-a-century earlier than that of the chief apartments in the Alhambra, is mostly whitewashed.

We ascend by the Camino del Cementerio, a continuation of the three Alhambra Park routes (p. 81), and by the Cuesta del Rey Chico (p. 78), and ring at the _Outer Gate_ (Pl. 27, F, 2; adm., see p. 74; fee to the porter, also to the gardener): A cypress-avenue leads thence to the N. to the _Entrance_ (Pl. 28; F, 1).

The picturesque COURT is still, as in Moorish times, planted with myrtle-hedges and orange-trees and intersected by a water-conduit. The buildings on the E. side date from the 16th cent.; along the W. side runs a _Colonnade_ with pointed arches, the central door of which opens on a _Mirador_ (Arabic _manzar_, _i.e._ belvedere), which is now a chapel. On the N. side we pass through a five-arched _Gallery_, and then through a three-arched _Portal_ into a quadrangular HALL with two alcoves. Beyond this is a square room with a balcony commanding a splendid view of the Darro Valley. The modern side-rooms are uninteresting.

The *PARK, to the E. of the main building and above it, was laid out in Moorish times. We first enter the _Patio de los Cipreses_, with a gallery built in 1584–6, and shaded with venerable cypresses. A Moorish flight of steps, with grooves for water on the balustrades, ascends to a _Mirador_ (Pl. 29; F, 1), where we enjoy a glorious *View of Granada, the Alhambra, and the valley of the Darro.

A good survey of the Alhambra and of the whole Sierra Nevada is obtained from the _Silla del Moro_ (Pl. F, 1), a spur of the Cerro del Sol. It is reached in 12 min. from the Cementerio road (p. 87) by a path diverging halfway between the gate of the Generalife and the cemetery, and then crossing a gorge.

11. From Granada viâ Bobadilla to Málaga.

119½ M. RAILWAY in 6–6¼ hrs. (fares 28 p. 90, 22 p. 65, 15 p. 95 c.); railway restaurant at Bobadilla only (change carr.); views thus far on the left, afterwards on the right.

From Granada to (76 M.) _Bobadilla_, see pp. 73, 72. The train then continues to follow the _Guadalhorce Valley_.

At (84½ M.) _Gobantes_ begins the *=Hoyo de Chorro=, a ravine, inaccessible before the railway was made, where the Guadalhorce forces its passage through the limestone slate rock of the coast-hills. The train is carried along the left bank by means of tunnels and of high bridges crossing lateral gorges. Little, however, of the grand rocky landscape, or of the interesting construction of the line, is seen from the train on its rapid descent.

Beyond (89 M.) _Chorro_ are seen the first oranges, lemons, palms, and cypresses. On the short run to Málaga we are carried with more startling suddenness than anywhere else in Europe into the midst of an almost tropical vegetation, and finally to the coast-region of sugar-cane, cotton, and bananas (comp. p. 89).

96 M. =Alora= (328 ft.; pop. 10,300), the ancient _Iluro_, lies to the right at the foot of the _Sierra del Hacho_. The ‘huertas’, or garden-like fields, are watered by numerous runlets from the Guadalhorce. Beyond the last tunnel the valley expands. 101½ M. _Pizarra_. To the S. rises the _Sierra de Mijas_.

109 M. _Cártama_. The village, the Roman _Cartima_, lies 2½ M. to the S.W., on the right bank of the Guadalhorce, which was once navigable up to this point. The loftily situated castle is Moorish.

112½ M. _Campanillas_ lies on the stream of that name, which waters the hilly wine-country of _Axarquía_ to the N., and falls into the Guadalhorce. The valley broadens down into the plain, the _Hoya de Málaga_ (p. 89). We now leave the Guadalhorce, which turns to the S.E.; to the S. we sight the Mediterranean.

119½ M. =Málaga.=—ARRIVAL. At the RAILWAY STATION (_Estación del Ferrocarril_; Pl. A, 5) we find hotel-omnibuses, cabs (see p. 89), and an ‘omnibus general’ (¼ p.), which last goes to the _Despacho Central_, or town-office of the railway, by the so-called Puerta del Mar (Calle de Carvajal; Pl. C, 4).—Travellers arriving by STEAMER pay for landing ½ p. for each person and ½ p. for each trunk; or a bargain may be made to convey luggage to the custom-house (Aduana) and to the hotel for 1–2 p.—The coasting steamers only are berthed at the quay.

[Illustration: MÁLAGA]

HOTELS (comp. p. 51). *_Regina Hotel_ (Pl. a; C, 4), on the N. side of the Alameda, pens. 12–20 p.—*_Hot. Colón_ (Pl. d; C, 3), Plaza de la Constitución; _Hot. Victoria_ (Pl. b; C, 4), pens. 6–12 p., _Hot. Niza_ (Pl. c; C, 3), _Hot. Inglés_ (Pl. e; C, 3), pens. 7 p., _Hot. Alhambra_ (Pl. f; C, 3), pens, from 7 fr., good, all in the Calle del Marqués de Larios; _Hacienda de Giró_ (Engl. landlady, Mrs. Cooper), above La Caleta, with garden, pens. 8–15 p.

CAFÉS. _Imperial_, _Inglés_, and _La Vinícola_, all in the Calle del Marqués de Larios.—BEER. _Gambrinus_, same street; _Cervecería de Munich_, Plaza de la Constitución; _Maier_, Pasaje de Heredia, N. side of same plaza.

CABS. Within the town, and to the E. to Hot. Hernán Cortés (p. 92): cab with two seats, per drive 1, per hr. 2 p., at night 2 and 2½ p.; with four seats, per drive 1½, per hr. 2½, at night per drive or hour 3 p. Bargain advisable, also as to luggage.—Outside the town according to bargain: to _Palo_ (p. 92) about 5, to _San José_ and _La Concepción_ (p. 92) 8–9 p.—On certain festivals fares are raised.

POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE (_Correos y Telégrafos_; Pl. D, 3), Calle del Cister.

BANKS. _Banco Hispano-Americano_, Calle del Marqués de Larios; _Hijos de Alvárez Fonseca_, Calle Nueva; _Rein & Co._, Alameda de Carlos Haes 4.

CONSULS. British, _P. Staniforth_; vice-consul, _E. R. Thornton_.—United States, _E. J. Norton_; vice-consul, _T. R. Geary_.—LLOYD’S AGENT, _Chas. Farguharson_, Cortina del Muelle 69.

ENGLISH CHURCH in the Protestant Cemetery (Pl. F, 3).

STEAMBOAT LINES. _Hall Line_ (agent, Ign. Morales Hurtado, Alameda de Colón 13), weekly to Cadiz, Lisbon, and London; _Compañía Trasatlántica_ (office, Viuda de Ant. Duarte), thrice monthly to Cadiz; _Transports Maritimes_ (P. G. Chaix, Calle de Josefa de Ugarte Barrientos 26), on 20th of each month to Gibraltar, Madeira, etc. (comp. also p. 120 and R. 3); _Navigation Mixte_ (P. G. Chaix), from Tangier viâ Málaga and Melilla to Oran (and Marseilles), see p. 123; also _Sloman’s Line_ and others.

ONE DAY. Forenoon: _Alameda_, _Park_ (p. 90), _Harbour_ (p. 90), _Cathedral_ (p. 91), and view from its tower or from the _Gibralfaro_ (p. 92); afternoon: _Protestant Cemetery_, _Caleta_, and _Palo_ (p. 92).

_Málaga_, the capital of a province and seat of a bishop, one of the oldest and most famous of Mediterranean ports, with 111,900 inhab., lies picturesquely on the last spurs of a circus of hills, 47 M. long, the _Sierra Tejea_, _S. de Alhama_, _S. de Abdalajis_, and _S. de Mijas_, which enclose the broad _Bahía de Málaga_. The inner part of this bay is bounded on the E. by the _Punta de los Cántales_, and on the W. by the _Torre de Pimentel_, near Torremolinos; between these rises the _Gibralfaro_, the castle-hill of Málaga, abutting on the harbour. The coast-line is gradually being extended seawards by the alluvial deposits of the _Guadalmedina_ (Arabic ‘town-river’), whose bed, generally dry (Rambla), separates the old town from the W. suburbs. To the W. stretches the wonderfully fertile _Vega_ or _Hoya de Málaga_, where even the sugar-cane, cotton, sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas), and cherimolias (Anona cherimolia) are cultivated. Most famous among the products of this luxuriant region are the raisins (pasas) and the wines of Málaga, which are yielded by the Axarquía (p. 88), to the N.W., and by the Montes de Málaga and the hill of Colmenar, to the N.E., and which are chiefly exported by British and German firms. In the W. suburbs are several sugar, cotton, and iron factories, a rare phenomenon in Andalusia. To the E. are the villa-suburbs, the strangers’ quarter. Málaga is much resorted to as a winter residence, chiefly by British and Spanish visitors, on account of the mildness of its climate, the mean temperature of the three winter months being 55° Fahr.

The HISTORY of Málaga, the _Malaca_ of antiquity, begins with the Phœnicians (p. 50), who gave the town its name. Down to the time of Posidonius, the contemporary of Pompey and Cicero, it retained its Punic character (Strabo III, 4), differing therein from the towns of Iberian or of Greek origin. The Syrian and other Asiatic merchants who settled here formed distinct guilds. Although the port was of some importance in ancient times, it now contains no memorials of either the Phœnician (except a few coins) or of the Roman period. In 571 _Leovigild_, the Visigoth (p. 69), wrested the town from the Byzantines. In 711 it was captured by the Moors, who regarded it as an earthly paradise, and whose Arabic writers vie with each other in extolling it. After 1246, along with Almería, it became one of the chief ports of the kingdom of Granada, but its mediæval glory ended with its conquest by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1487. For centuries Málaga remained utterly insignificant; but of late, in spite of the growing competition of Seville and Almería, its trade has improved considerably.

From the station we follow the tramway line and cross the _Puente de Tetuán_ (Pl. B, 4) to the PASEO DE LA ALAMEDA (Pl. B, C, 4), a promenade ¼ M. long and 138 ft. wide, planted with planes. At its W. end it is adorned with a marble _Fountain_ executed in Genoa in 1560, and at the E. end with a statue of the _Marqués de Larios_. Adjoining this Paseo on the E. is the PLAZA DE ALFONSO SUÁREZ DE FIGUEROA (Pl. C, 4), with a tasteful fountain, which leads to the new—

*=Park= (_Parque_ or _Jardines de Enrique Crooke Larios_; Pl. C-E, 4, 3), planted with six rows of planes and palms and with fine flower-beds. View of the harbour, part of the cathedral, the Alcazaba, and the Gibralfaro.—The _Paseo de Heredia_ (Pl. C, 5, 4) also, to the W. of the harbour, is planted with planes and palms.

The =Harbour= (_Puerto_; Pl. C, D, 4, 5) has been much improved since 1881. The E. pier, with the _Lighthouse_ (Faro; Pl. D, 5), was already built in 1588. On the sand-hills behind the pier a poor suburb has sprung up, called the _Barrio de Malagueta_ (Pl. E, F, 4, 3). On its N. side are the _Plaza de Toros_ (Bull Ring; Pl. E, 3) and the _Hospital Noble_, erected for seamen by Dr. Noble, an English physician.—To the Caleta, see p. 92.

The _Mercado_ (market-hall; Pl. B, C, 4), to the N. of the Alameda, deserves an early morning visit; the fish-stalls also are worth seeing. The horseshoe arch of the chief portal, with the motto of the Nasride dynasty (p. 74), is a relic of the Moorish wharf, the _Atarazana_ (Arabic Dâr as-San῾a, ‘arsenal’ or ‘place of work’).

From the Alameda issues the CALLE DEL MARQUÉS DE LARIOS (Pl. C, 4, 3), the chief business street of Málaga (many cafés) and also a favourite resort of the fashionable and leisured classes. Another important commercial thoroughfare, to the N.E. of the Plaza de la Constitución, is the CALLE DE GRANADA (Pl. C, D, 3), officially called _Calle de Salvador Solier_, from which the Calle de Molina Larios leads to the cathedral.