Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-10-23
THE ALHAMBRA OF GRENADA.
An Impressive Witness of the Civilization
of the Ancient Moor

An Impressive Witness of the Civilization
| of the Ancient Moor.
| London letter in the Philadelphia Tele-
graph, says: The lover of art. history.
romance, must alike have experienced a
sharp, keen pang when the daily papers an
nounced that the ALEXANDRIA was In flames.
This magnificent structural record of a
bygone civilization can Ill be spared at a
| time like the present. for the actual gener-
alton Is quite incapable of building any,
| thing similar Fortunately the damage is
not so great as at first reported; but no
one would wish single stone of so valu-
able an edifce to be injured. The Alham-
| bra of Grenada, the Mosque Of C0rdova.
and the Alcazar at Seville are the three
most beautiful and impressive witnesses
remaining of the civilization of the an
clent Moor. Bat of all three, that which
charms. which fascinates the most is un-
doubtediy the Alhambra. The site it &C.
cupleS on the crest of a red rock the mag
nlhcence of the surrounding panorama,
dominated by the snow-white peak Of the
Sierra Madra, and the innumerabIe his
torlcal events and roDlances that are con
nected vita this palace and fortress. rem
der the Atham IRA the most attractive spot
in all Spain.
The red rock on which this inc9mpar-
able structure stands is $3.50 feet long. 730
feet wide, and is entirely encircled with a
wall some thirty feet high and six feet
thick. Strange that when this great fort
ress vas butt, just after the surrender OF
Seville, when the Moorish arms had proved
slgnally victorious, bn-l-ahmcr, who com
menced the work, seemed to foresee its Ill
innate decay. The people Of Grenada
greeted hlm with the cry Of ''Galib, the
conqueTor, for he had subdued Seville But
be replied. Wa la ghaiibo lila Allah
there Is no cOnqueror but Allah. Every
where throughout the palace, in beautiful
arabesques Is rel Gated this motto. Truly
enough the Moor was a conqueror but for
a time; in the long run the only conque-or
Is God. However. according to our vary
ing creeds. we may interpret the meaning
of the word God, it is the First Cause. the
Commanding. the Governing Scheme. of
| the universe, which alone conqutrors; all
else fades away, is consumed by decay. or.
! like the beautiful Court of Myrtles at the
Alhambra Palace, by fire
Commenced by Abn-I-ahmer in 1913. the
principal decorative work was done under
| 1usuf |. and Mohammed v between the
years 1888 and 1891. 1t was Jan. 2. 1892,
! that the banner of Ferdinand of CASTLE
tloated en- the towers OF Alhambra, and
then commenced a long process Of grada-
ton, which has served to prove that. IN
those days at least. the Mo0rs represented
civilization and the Spaniards barbarism.
The conduct of the Spaniards toward the
Moors was qualified by the great Cardinal
Rlchelleu, who certainly was not very sus-
ceptble to sentiments of pity, as 1.-The
bo!dest and most barbarous policy to be
found in the historical record of all pre-
vlOus centuries.
Certainly the Moors have better reason
| to be proud of having built the ALEXANDRIA
than the Spaniards of having captured it.
A miserable question of jealously Among
women brought about the downfall Isa-
bel de Soils, the daughter of the governor
OF Martos, was taken prisoner by the
Moors. This Christian woman became
the favorite wife of Abu-Eahmer king OF
Grenada, and was called by the Moors, as
a poetic definition Of her wonderful beauty
Zoraya, the morning star but Ayeshah,
another wife CfAbu-l-ahmer, was extremely
jealous of her rival
The court was soon divided into two
factions, some siding with Zoraya anc
OV1lCIo Will ASC SudI. III WdS IneSe III
ternal dlssensions which so weakened the
Moors that the Spaniards were able ulti
mately to take the town and palace. Ye
even in their extremity the Moors would
probably have continued to resist had they
foreseen that the Spaniards would not keel
their pledges, and that, when once
masters, they would proceed to CONVEX
the Moors to Christianity by fire anc
sword.
In spite of Spanish destructiveness
enough remains of the Alhambra to show
what grand and superior people tn.
Moors must have been. But a portion Of
this ecord has not been DESTROYED by fire
Close to the circular patio of Charles W
unfinished palace is a court which has
been known by many different names. By
some it is called the Patio de la Alberca
which means fsh-pond. By others il is
known as the MartlA court, and it is by
this name that | best remember the place
Surrounded by colonnade of exquisite
ilghtness and delicacy, the patio, or yard,
has all round it hedge of martles some
four feet high. These are cut very regu
larly and from a wall which discreetly con-
ceals the central pond from the colonnade
Here, In the heat of the summer, it was
possible to battle unseen by the attendants
passing under the colonnade. The court
is $50 feet long and so feet wide. Now
destroyed by fire, it had previously been
partly spoiled by Charles V. There were
Moorish ba!lustrades round the pond which
were pulled down and sold, and to the
right of the patio the winter quarter was
destroyed by Charles V so that he might
build himself a palace on that spot. For
tnnately the palace was never finished, SO
that this discordant note was not as loud
as it might have been. The Martle court,
the SaIa de la Barca, and other portions
of the palace which the fire has consumed
will. it is said be restored.
Of late years and only of late years, the
Spaniards have commenced to appreciate
that which, for so many centuries, they
sought to destroy. The Alhambra has
been carefully studied, its architecture
copied, its arabesques reproduced. Now
we can purchase the most faithful repro
auctions of the Alhambra at so much the
square foot. 1t will not be difficult, con.
sequently, to rebuild what has been de-
| strOyed IN such manner as to create at
least an optical illusion Only those who
are especially trained will be able to dis
| tinguish between the restored and the
original portions of the palace.
AN EMPRESS INCOGNITO.