The Alhambra Palace and the Courtyard of the Lion, the highest peak of Islamic architecture - What is the origin of beauty? The Monk Takahiro Ueda's Circumnavigation of the World - Spain 23
May 25.
Today, the morning started with a visit to the Alhambra.
The Alhambra Palace is a representative building of Islamic culture.
The Alhambra Palace towers over the hills of Granada.
In recent years, the number of tourists in Spain has increased dramatically, and it has become difficult to see the Alhambra without making reservations in advance.
Often the reservation slots are already sold out even two months before the desired date.
That's how popular this place is.
Walk from Plaza Nuevo to the Alhambra.
Going up a steep hill.
Proceed through the gate, which may be the entrance to the Alhambra Palace grounds.
Once inside, there is a little wooded area.
It is deep green and smells like a forest.
American writers along the wayWashington Irving.(1783-1859) had a statue of
Irving was a writer who traveled here to Granada in 1829 and stayed at the Alhambra Palace.
The travelogue written at that time wasThe Alhambra Story.And so, the book was the catalyst for the Alhambra to become known to Western society.
Had it not been for Irving, the Alhambra would not have been known to the world, and it is possible that it would have fallen into even greater disrepair.
The recognition of its splendor by the European world has increased its popularity as a tourist destination, and furthermore, restoration and maintenance have been promoted from the viewpoint of protecting cultural assets.
Finally, we arrived at the Gate of Judgment. From here, go to the Alhambra Palace.
We had reserved tickets to the main Alhambra palace, the Nasr Palace, at 10:00 a.m., but we still had plenty of time to get there, so we headed to the Alcazaba first.
The alcazaba is a fortress built within the palace.
The Alhambra, as its name suggests, is the palace where the king resides.
Defense is a top priority.
It is indeed a fortress.
It has a good vantage point to prevent enemy intrusion.
Below, the white streets of the Albaicin, a World Heritage site, stretch out.
Houses with white walls and dull brown roofs.
Granada has been under Muslim rule for a long time, and Islamic culture is still very much a part of this city today.
The tightly built houses and labyrinth of winding streets are designed to make intruders completely lose track of where they are when they enter the city of Granada.
The townscape from that time has been preserved exactly as it was at that time, giving a sense of medieval history to the area. This is the reason why it has been designated a World Heritage site.
If you look closely, you can also see the San Nicolas Lookout, which we visited yesterday.
Yesterday I was looking at this side of the street from there.
Well, 10 o'clock exactly.
We will now enter the main part of the Alhambra, the Nasr Palace.
The first stop is the Mesure Room.
It then continues with the Mesure courtyard.
The wall decorations, called arabesques, are the highlight here.
Since idolatry is forbidden in Islam, they do not leave paintings as in Christianity.
This is why Muslims decorate their walls with patterns that combine straight and curved lines, flowers and vines.
And speaking of the Alhambra, this is also the patio of Alayanes.
The characteristics of Islamic architecture are on full display.
The palace is reflected in the vertical fountain and its water surface.
And the arch supporting the cloister and the thin columns supporting it.
Andalusia in southern Spain is a region of blazing heat.
The architectural style of the building, which is cooler in such a climate, was probably utilized here.
Finally, I went to the Lion's Courtyard, my main attraction.
I came all the way to Andalusia because I wanted to see the Lion's Courtyard.
This lion courtyard is not just any courtyard.
In fact, it is one of the best architectural structures in the world that hides some very interesting cultural secrets.
And this is the famous Lion Fountain.
From different angles.
If you look closely, you will see that each lion has a different face.
And the lion is not connected to the fountain above the lion.
I had assumed that the lions were spitting out the water from the spring, but this does not seem to be the case.
The reason why I really wanted to come to the Lion's Courtyard was because of the words of primatologist France de Waal, who has appeared many times in my previous articles.
He states.
We see nature and find it beautiful, and since time immemorial artists have been inspired by nature. （It must have been the environment in which our ancestors lived that created our senses and caused us to like or dislike the impressions we receive.
Hara Shobo, France de Waal, translated by Toshisada Nishida, Rumi Fujii, "The Monkey and the Sushi Craftsman," p148
Yes, I had always wondered about this before I embarked on this journey.
Why are beautiful things beautiful?"
No, I've been thinking about it a lot, and I wonder where the sense of beauty came from in the first place.
This was very strange for me.
What is beautiful is beautiful and what is beautiful is beautiful.
We like them as a matter of course, we want these wonderful things around us, and we rejoice when they are around us.
But after thinking about it, I suddenly began to wonder why that was.
One of the answers, as de Waal stated, was that the ancestors of humankind had carved it into their instincts while living in the midst of nature.
An environment favorable to human survival, or a landscape that stimulates the imagination necessary for survival.
Such things must have been the source of the sense of beauty.
And it is the Lion's Courtyard that most faithfully embodies this and completes the ultimate architectural beauty.
Let's take another look at this lion courtyard.
A bright courtyard fountain can be seen through the narrow columns.
It is as if I were walking through the forest and looking out into the open through the trees.
At its heart is a spring, the source of life.
Perhaps this is the ideal landscape that prehistoric mankind had in mind.
And then I realized.
That you can appreciate the beauty of this courtyard far more by walking and looking through the columns than by stopping and looking at the lion's courtyard.
A pillar crosses your field of vision, and then a lion fountain bursts into your field of vision.
Strangely enough, the columns that cross in front of me make me feel very comfortable.
It is as if I am really a prehistoric human being walking through the forest.
It's the movement that makes what you see even more beautiful."
This was an interesting finding.
It was something I was able to feel only because I went there and actually used my body to see it.
This was truly a wonderful experience.
I have grown to love the Lion's Courtyard.
I came all the way to Andalusia to see this.
And it was more than amply rewarded.
I stayed here for more than an hour, admiring the courtyard from various angles.
Really great.
The more you look at it, the more it attracts you.
In fact, I have already made reservations for the Alhambra Palace and nighttime light-up viewing after this tour.
The next article will introduce the Alhambra Palace at night.
be unbroken
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