The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-07-22
THE SPANISH ALEXANDRA IN 1870
An American Tourist In Granada.

name of Washington Irving, is a correspon-
dent of the Chicago Tribune, who gives
this account of the romantic spot:
al threatened myself with certain disap-
pointment, when, after climbing the high
est tower, the fortress of the palace, 1
could discover naught but a low, irregular
assemblage of tiled roofs, under which the
wonder must be hidden. Advance as L
did, if you will, to the discovery OF the
truth. and start from the banks OF the
Darro. that rolled down golden. a IN the
DAYS of fable, and ascend the narrow streets
of Granada, where you may hear water
dripping in fountains of front halls,
and blind men drumming guitars.
ga a turn In one of the streets We are
carried, as if by magic, to the borders OF a
forest. An old triumphal arch serves as
gateway. 1t is not what Europeans call a
grove that we have entered, for, though
three weIl-kept paths find their way
through it, the trees are untr1mmed, trail
inc with vines and beded in underbrush.
Their foliage is OF the richest green, their
height prodigious, so that, springing far
down the hillside. they stand back to back,
with the massive fortifcationo IN the height
above. We demand an explanation of
this vigorous verdure at a height where
most places are sterile in Spain, and hear
the answer murmured at our feet on every
side. The Moors caught the Darro half
yay down its course from the n~eighboring
mountains of snow, and led it around the
hill to play in their lofty palace and water
their hanging gardens and this forest vesti-
bule. About the base of the first tower
gateway it tumbles out of upturned vases
held by cherubs, and spouts out of comic
noutino mouths of bearded river gods,
wreathed with vine branches, sheaves
and garlands of flowers, on the
facade of a great fountain, emilia
zoned with the escutcheon of Charles V.
In another moment We have reached the
| Gate of Judgment. A square tower, as all
Moorish towers are, rises in solid mass
above q horseshoe arch, in which the
Caliphs held public tribunal. The idea of
Judgment in the gate is essentially Oriental,
and not confined to Bible history. The
gateway is deserted now; the hated symbol
of the the cross, is embedded in
the wall, though the upright hand on the
keystone of the inner brick arch has not
reached down and grasped the greatkey on
the keystone of the n stone arch, as the
proyerb predicted, before the fortress could
be taken. Passing up a paved way, between
high walls, we enter a great yard, the court
of the wells. Here water sellers of the
town are filling cork cased tin cans to carry
down on their backs. The fact that
they come thus far to draw, when
the city is green with water, shows
the estimation in which this purest
of cisterns is held. One side of the
square is commanded by mouldering walls
and towers on the height and extremity of
the hill, the other by the heavy but ele-
- - 10 T-nHnTphad rNalaan nf
Charles v, which was built with a vandal
contempt of the winter wing of the Al
hambra by the conquerer. We nave been
doomed, therefore, to lose the grand en-
trance of the Moors, and seek a low, mar
row door to their enchanted palace. The
more the exterior has deceived and disap-
pointed, the more the interior surprised
and delighted us. First comes a long,
broad court, open to the sky, except at two
ends, which were covered by light Arabian
arcades of extremely delicate finish. 1t is
paved with large blocks of marble about
the sides, and holds a basin OF flowing
water. perhaps a hundred long and a third
as broad, gold fish bathing where Sui
tanas used to bathe-if we believe
one of the many names of the place,
Mezonar, the Arabic for women's BATH
The Spaniards call it "Palio de los Array
annes." on account of evergreen myrtle
bushes that run alOEg the length of the
marble pond. Fountains toss cooling
streams into the heated air of the arcades,
which are lost in the central basin. Ano-
Their narrow door and hall passed, and we
have before our eyes the wonder of won
ders, the Court of Lions, or of columns, as
1 should prefer to call it, the best preserv-
ed and most fascinating hall of the Alham-
bra. Its common name is derived from
twelve lions standing in the centre of the
court, back to back, IN a circle, supporting
the double marble basin of a fountain
Though 1 saw a poodle lu%xuriously bark
ing at them, they might as well be taken
for any other quadrupeds as for hons.
Arabian scu.ptors were not over skilful in
making the fiat angular paws, sacrificed to
four straight claws, square legs and faces
wrinkled with inconceivable grim lines. The
exact though shapeless ears give a start OF
life to these chimerical creations. In COM
pairing these ridiculous monsters with the
other works of the chisel, on the basins
above, intricate designs ia relief Of inter-
lacing angels and curves, puzZling yet
pleasing, yod have q striking illustration of
the influence of religion upon art. The
Koran included both painting and sculp-
ture, in the wide sense, and left nothing
but the pursuit of architecture TO the faith
full. It maintained with undue severity
our second commandment, and forbade
men from making the likeness of any Iiy-
ing thing. These lions, then, are IN
successful products of license, whereas
the infnity of architectural designs,
in the delicacy of which the Ara
bian surpassed all other artists, is a natur-
al profuseness of confined genius. At the
lions feet four marble channels, conducted
across the court, used to empty sparkling
water, ever s%pringing inside halls and
chambers, to unite with that spirited by the
grotesque figures, and falling from the dou-
bic basin of the fountain. Mince columns
of white marble, solitary or grouped, two,
three or four together, surrounded the
green square to the number of one hundred
and twenty-eight, holding up vanished
arches worked in fllsgree, to be worthy of
their splendor and graceful supports
These arches are formed of q myriad of lit
tie domes resting IN each other, or minia-
ture pilasters, and are hung with stalac-
tites, as the roof of q grotto, or paneled or
huted.
1.-THE spaces between them are spread
with a fanciful network of flowers, fruits,
shells, stars, and an unending variety of
landscapes, separated by the long curving
characters of Arabic inscriptions. The
ceilings of the arcades, and the vaults of
the two pavilions, that project into the
centre, are inlaid with ~triangles and squares
of cedar wood. Nothing could be more
chaste, or a more symmetrical relief to the
length of the arcades, than these royal
resting places in the midst of the garden
and the marble park. Here the Sultan
NAV have listened to the music of the tam
BOURNE and the song of the singers prais-
ing their deeds and the deeds of their faith
ers in adding Hispania to the happy realms
of the prophet, or followed the v%oluptuous
dance of Alinah girls. Tradition makes
this court once a scene of blood, and re-
lates how the Segris lured the Abeucerages
into this palace and slaughtered them.
One of the chambers, opening into the
Lions Court, has retained the name of the
fancied victims, and the credulous are
shown a blotched stain of blood On the
bottom of the marble basin, in which the
heads of the thirty-six fell, which the flow
ing water of centuries has not been able to
remove. Unfortunately for the tale, the
reddish hue came with the stone from the
quarry. A curious indication of Oriental
usage is observed at the entrance of this
and every other chamber of the ALEXANDRA
In little templelke inches, exquisitely
carved shrines for the sandals or slippers