Closer to Morocco than to Madrid, with couscous and simmering tajins that provide relief from over indulgence in jamon , Granada is exotic Spain. Arabian nights style lamps light up the touristy cafes and the decor is strongly maroon carpets and low stools. The steep and narrow alleys of Albayzin, the “old” neighborhood are the perfect backdrop to sip herbal teas from Tunisia.

Ofcourse, these experiences are curated for the tourists, who are here to visit the Alhmabra, which the guidebooks proclaim to be one of the finest examples of Islamic Architecture in the world. The “world” in this case probably excludes all the Islamic countries, but then guidebooks don’t carry the burden of history books. These days, the only moors though are the friendly moroccans who man the tourist haunts.

Entering the Alhambra is a bit tricky these days. Don’t expect to saunter in lazily after sipping Tunisian tea and walk in. The tickets are all rationed, and advance online reservations are a must. Even the time slot to visit the Nasrid palaces must be selected. All rituals that are very un Arabesque.

After, cross checking our tickets and passports, we are allowed into the sprawling grounds. Alhambra was actually an entire city within a fortress perched on a hill. The iron oxide in the clay, gave it the name Al-hambra, which simply means the “red hill” in Arabic. As we enter my eye is eagerly scanning for ancient monuments, but we see only manicured gardens and cypress trees which have been shaped into Islamic horse shoe arches. A bit anti-climatic but a great photo prop.

A bit further along, and we see archaeological excavation pits. The excavations seem to have unearthed tiny lodgings. We have seen a lot of “Jewish quarters” in Andalusia, usually a tangle of narrow alleys, and one hopes that these cramped spaces are not another “Jewish Quarter”, which is just a fancy word for a former ghetto.

A little bit of historical context makes it easier to understand the Alhambra. In the 8th century, muslims from North Africa, led by Arabs, entered the Iberian peninsula and within a few short years controlled almost all of present day Spain and Portugal. They are now called the “Moors”, a word that is perhaps a bit problematic.

The “Moors”, who were incidentally not one homogenous group. They were Berbers, Arabs and a few Africans. Unsurprisingly, they too had their infightings and tensions. All though seemed to have enjoyed a good soak in a hot hammam. More importantly they introduced irrigation to this arid peninsula. Coming from the deserts, they seemed to naturally understand the landscaping required in these dry lands.

The Al-Andalus (Andalusia today) prospered and was considered far ahead of the rest of Europe at that time. Fortified cities were built and souqs sprouted, paving the way for future plazas. After roughly 400 years the christian “re-conquista” had banished the “moors” and incidentally also the jews. In an interesting post fact rationalizing the “Re-conquista” is now considered by some as part of the Crusades, although the “real crusades” were more focussed on Jerusalem and the east. Whatever you call it, by the 13th century, most of the Iberian peninsula was back in Christian hands , except for the small kingdom of Granada in the South

Shielded by the mountains, and closer to Morocco, the Nasrids, worked out a treaty with the Christian kings and managed to hang on to their kingdom for another two hundred years. Finally in 1492, surrounded by the armies of the Catholic Monarchs , the king Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle , Boabdil the last sultan, surrendered Granada without a fight. The great Christopher Columbus who would “discover” the “new world” that very year was present during the surrender.

The Catholic monarchs, did move into the Alhambra and add a palace and other christian touches, but their attention was elsewhere. The “new world” had just been discovered, and the ships from across the Atlantic were heavy with molten gold from Mayan and Inca temples.

Alhambra was ignored and fell out of the imagination. In the early 19th century, Napolean would camp his armies within the fortress. When he abandoned it, wanting to make sure that it could not be used against him, he blew up most of the fortifications. Ironically, it was this completely secular act that was the most destructive. Squatters then moved into Alhambra and it wasn’t until the 19th century that romantic writers wrote about the now “exotic” Islamic architecture and “rediscovered” Alhambra.

Restoration of the fallen city was alas a bit short on present day standards of historical accuracy and the early archaeologists freely added imaginative Arabesque touches. The spherical Persian dome was beautifully inaccurate, and was removed when the times became less fanciful. The modern student of history has to indeed tread carefully.

The Nasrid palaces are the star attraction, and one needs a special ticket to enter the former palace of the sultans. After much procedure, we enter rather uncomfortably. We had to leave behind Arjun’s carrier and carry our backpack in front of us. The goal is to prevent one of the fragile columns getting knocked over perhaps when the careless tourist swivels for a better picture. True, the Alhambra is one of the most visited monuments in Spain, but it all seems a bit overdone.

We enter through the Mexuar palace. From the Arabic “mashwar”, which means “place of counsel”, this is where the sultan had his conferences and the chiefs provided status updates. The pillars are narrow and horse shoe arches support a wooden balcony. The walls are filled with intricate motifs, that are abstract and geometrical. I am a little surprised at the rater small conference room. The sultan did not sit at the head of a grand table and get his updates. This space seems more suitable to hushed whispers, as the guests sat on cushions on the floor. There are the now familiar courtyards and a marble fountain that is still.

Narrow doors lead to the Comares palace. This is where personal visitors to the Sultan would wait. Here they could admire the rectangular pool of water, which would reflect the arches and take in the beautifully inverted symmetry. The pillars are marble and a lot of stucco is used. Stucco, which is similar to plaster , is vastly easier to work with and the ceiling and walls are overflowing with finely intricate work that have a mesmerizing repetitiveness.

Depicting anything created by the Almighty is forbidden in Islam and these builders made full use of geometry and rhythm. The workmen would have carved out wooden blocks and imprinted the wet stucco. A nice and efficient way to fill up space. Doing this is marble would have been far more expensive and time intensive. Stucco gives more economy but is a little brittle. Perhaps the caution that the authorities show today is warranted. If the palaces are packed full of tourists, things could get a little flaky. Quaranic inscriptions are used abundantly.

The lower walls use colored tiles to create repeating motifs. The celebrated artist MC Escher, visited the Alhambra in 1922 and was inspired to start off on a mathematically inclined series of drawings titled “Regular divisions of the Plane”, which is titled more like a textbook.

Finally, we enter the Leones, which was the private residence of the Sultan. Twelve marble lions stand in an ouward facing circle, spouting water from their mouths. Scholars contend that they symbolize the twelve suns of the zodiac and perhaps the nasrids were unaware of the pagan reference.

After bidding farewell to the Nasrid palaces, we take a look at the more roomier Palace of Charles V. Commissioned by the grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, who had taken Granada back, it was never really occupied and remained in a state of permanent incompleteness until very recently. Napolean’s army stripped off wood from the palace to make warming fires. Today we see a couple getting married in the large circular patio on the ground floor.

We finish our tour by spending time at the Alcazaba. It’s late afternoon, and we have the old fortress mostly to ourselves. The terraces, provides great views over the city of Granada and we see the imposing cathedral of Granada. Flags of Andalusia and Spain, flutter in the wind. Arjun is happy to finally play in the dirt and a dried strand of palm provides endless possibilities.