Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-08-05

lQ.
The costliest materials were used by the
Indian emperors. and the finest work
manship was employed. 1t was said of
Shah Jehan that he built like q Titan and
finished like jeweler
The Alhambra is of simple red stone
and its interior decoration is Of plaster.
There is moth
Seat Of Court ing within the
Famed World Over. tortre.. to
compare with the pearl mosque in Ak
bars palace at Delhi and nothing to ap-
proach the Tai Mahal, with its perfect
symmetry Of design and its flowers OF
precious stones inlaid in white marble.
The solid silver ceiling in the hall OF pub
lie audience in the palace at Delhi, which
is said to have cost $3O.OO0OOO. would
have paid for the construction of the AL
hambra seven times. and the famous pea
cock throne would probably have done
the same It is not handsome construc-
ton or richness Of material that makes
the Alhambra more interesting sight
for the traveller and a more absorbing
study for the historian, but the fact that
it is the great surviving landmark OF the
Mosem empire in western Europe. and
the former scene OF court famed
throughout the then known world for it's
brilliancy and luxury.
The Alhambra's exterior Is as simple
and severe as any fortress of the period
in which 1t was erected. The interior is
conspicuous for light, graceful columns
and the Saracenic arches which constitute
the characteristic feature Of the orna-
mental architecture Of the Mohammedans
from India to Spain. The building is a
series OF small palaces constructed at va
| rious times and conforming to a model
Each of the courts is surrounded by
rooms that open into 1t. The courts. some
Of them ornamented by orange trees and
others by evergreens and flowers. give
singular charm to the interior of the
palace. and 1t was here, rather than in
the Windowless chambers opening off the
courts, that the Mosem kings and their
wives and favorites had their equivalent
Of the modern living ROOM
Some of the courts were named often
for the shrubs or flowers within them, as
for example
Names Of Flowers 1.-The Court of
Selected for Courts. n lm1 "S'tae sra
named for sculptured figures. as 1.-THE
Court of the Lions The sounding title
of The Court Of the Lions leads the WISH
tor to expect too much. TIE lions are very
badly executed and suggest the conven-
tional lions employed by the Chinese in
their temples because they bear such
slight resemblance to the king of beasts
But the court is nevertheless a noble ex-
ample of Saracenic architecture. and is
exceptionally impressive by moonlight
Granada is today a rather prosperous
and quite modern looking city, notable
for smart shops and handsome buildings.
The Alhambra is thing Of the east re-
manning as it was four centuries ago, I'M
touched by progress. Leaving the busy
streets OF Granada, and taking a narrow
er and quieter one the pilgrim soon finds
himself before an ancient gate through
which he sees the many towering elms
of the alameda Of the Alhambra.
Once inside the gate he hears nothing
but the soft plash of many fountains or
in springtime the
Splash Of Fountains ravishing songs
and Song Of Birds. he ,n nt.nnsa, 'hs
perfume of flowers and the odor of green
leaves. The alameda is a little valley
almost a canyon, in the spur of the
Sierra Nevada, which shoots out from
tween the two rivers that history and
fiction have made famous in connection
with the palace. The spell of the AL
hambra is upon the least imaginative
person before he crosses the alameda
from the Puerta de las Granadas and
reaches the gate that leads to the group
Of buildings surrounding the cluster of
oriental palaces that awakened the as
Punishment of the Christian
in the year that Columbus discovered
America.
A singular feature of the -AIhambra as
it stands today is that there is no hint
of harem. In the construction of
palaces for pOlygamOus mOnarchs the
space 1t Is probable that the rule was
by no means deviated from at Granada,
but that when Charles V planted his I'M
slightly palace as monument to his
quarters of the women was raZed. But,
disfgured by the successors of its con-
querors and by the less ruthless hand of
time, the Alhambra remains pre-eminent-
ly the place of romance among all of the
ila citations of kings now preserved as
own. Standing aloof from modern Ora
nada it's FLASHING fountains bringing the
cool breath of the snow-capped Sierras
to the walls of a hot and dusty Spanish
Spain as does no other spot on the penin-
sula and bears silent testimony to the
esthetic nature of an exotic culture that
was brought to Europe from the east
to leave it's impress forever between the
Pillars of Hercules and the Pyrenees.
ARRESTED AS FUGITIVE.