Generalife: Lower Gardens and Court of the Water Channel
Why is it significant?
Welcome to the Generalife, whose Arabic name Yanna al-Arif translates to the «Garden of the Architect» or «Garden of the Overseer», the country estate and summer retreat erected in the late thirteenth century by Muhammad the Second for royal relaxation.
Key Facts
| Place | Generalife: Lower Gardens and Court of the Water Channel |
|---|---|
| Address | Paseo de los Cipreses s/n, 18009 Granada, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 37.17710, -3.58520 |
| Part of Walk | The Alhambra and Generalife: Nasrid Palaces, Fortress and Royal Gardens |
| Generated | Generated |
Welcome to the Generalife, whose Arabic name Yanna al-Arif translates to the «Garden of the Architect» or «Garden of the Overseer», the country estate and summer retreat erected in the late thirteenth century by Muhammad the Second for royal relaxation. Perched upon the slopes of the Cerro del Sol across the deep ravine from the Alhambra, this estate harmoniously integrated pleasure gardens with four productive agricultural terraces that supplied the royal kitchens with fresh vegetables, fruit, and aromatic herbs. The orchards and terraced gardens were cultivated by skilled Moorish agronomists who devised complex gravity systems, producing fresh figs, pomegranates, and vegetables for the sultan's banquet tables.
Enter the celebrated Court of the Water Channel, or Patio de la Acequia, and let the rhythmic sound of water enchant your senses: a narrow central water canal nearly fifty meters long, fed directly by the Royal Aqueduct of the river Darro, runs between rows of fragrant myrtles, roses, and crossing water jets that form liquid arches in the breeze. At the northern end stands a delicate pavilion decorated with intricate plasterwork and a viewing balcony overlooking the red walls of the Alhambra and the whitewashed Albaicín.
While the crossing water jets seen today were added during nineteenth-century romantic landscape restorations, the central canal preserves its original medieval hydraulic design. In the adjacent Court of the Sultana's Cypress stands the preserved trunk of a six-hundred-year-old tree beneath which, according to romantic legend, Boabdil's queen secretly met with a handsome knight of the noble Abencerrage clan.
Rub a clipped myrtle leaf between your fingertips: it releases a fresh balsam fragrance that has perfumed this courtyard for more than seven hundred years.
Climb the garden pathways into the Upper Gardens to experience the hydraulic marvel of the Water Staircase and reach the Silla del Moro castle.