The intricacy of the Moorish design on every wall, ceiling, floor, and door was pretty astounding, even after many of the simplifying changes the Christians made after they moved in (15th century). While I say "many", the number of changes made by successive Christians was much smaller than I would expect given the extent to which religion suffused the artwork that was the Alhambra. This brings me to the answer to the question I posed in my last post: the important and unique floor was in the fourth photo in that post. It is the only widely known example from the Muslim world of a floor tile with the Allah written on it (so, of course, it is not to be stepped on). If that had been the only bit of religious writing the Christians had kept in the Alhambra, then it could be perhaps be assumed that it was kept so that it could daily be defiled. However, much was kept, as can be seen in the photos below. I wish I understood more about the history of this place and the empire that built it. Hopefully, Jess and I will be able to visit a mosque today that offers a more Islamic perspective on the history of the Alhambra (as compared to the overwhelmingly Christian perspective offered at the Alhambra itself). Then we will try to find the restaurant Mom has raved about (she visited Granada with my brother a few years ago and had a dreamy whirlwind tour of southern Spain herself) that is conveniently located in the plaza below the hilltop mosque we'll be visiting.
More photos of the Alhambra are to come. :)
The Inquisition was not complete according to the pictures of the carved Arabic words.
ReplyDelete