KEY SIGHTS (continued)
Outside is the palace gardens. These have been loving restored and tended. In addition, to the beauty of the planting, note the designs in the paths between the beds. Inasmuch as most visitors seem to hurry through this area en route elsewhere, it is not crowded and as a result more peaceful. |
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Next to the Nasrid Palaces is the Charles V Palace. Indeed, several rooms of the Comares Palace were demolished in order to connect the new palace to the existing Moorish palaces. The Charles V Palace was designed in the Italian Renaissance style. It is a square building with a large circular colonnaded courtyard inscribed within. Inasmuch as the project was never completed, the palace is only partially decorated. Today, the lower level of the palace is the Museum of the Alhambra while the upper level is the Fine Arts Museum.
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As mentioned earlier, in addition to the palaces and the military fortifications, the Alhambra has several other significant buildings. These include the Santa Maria church which was built on the site of a mosque (right). There are also two hotels within the complex. One of these, the Parador San Francisco, was formerly a convent and before that a Moorish palace (below).
Visitors can also see the foundations of some of the sections of the Alhambra that were destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars (below right). |
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Going ashore - - Visiting The Alhambra - page 3