Court of la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel), Palace of the Generalife
Notes
Name Generalife in Arabic translates ' the Architect' s Garden' . The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302-1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma' il (1313-1324)
The palaces of the Alhambra and Generalife form the most important architectural ensemble to survive from the Nasrid period (1232-1492). The walled Alhambra city which sits on a steep hill, comprised the Alcazaba (alqa?aba: ' fortress' ), palaces, mansions, two mosques, baths (?ammams), an industrial zone with tanneries, a mint, kilns, workshops, and some adjacent royal estates such as the Generalife. The Generalife was built on ascending terraces. The sovereign reached the Generalife's royal mansion, the Dar al-Mamlaka al-Sa' ida (' royal house of felicity' ), from the Alhambra's Puerta de Hierro, also built by Muhammad II. He ascended through orchards, crossed a first courtyard and entered the second through a guarded south portico, to ascend to a vestibule with a structural bench and up a steep staircase to the Patio de la Acequia. Gardens and fountains are interspersed throughout the palace complex. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.