The Alhambra of Granada for children. An exciting journey through time

Surely you have seen pictures of the Alhambra or maybe you have been lucky enough to visit it with your parents and you wonder why is there such a curious palace in a city like Granada?

Why are its ceilings or walls decorated in this way? You will think that the palaces in your city look very different.

Come with us, we are going to travel back in time and you will understand that there is a reason for everything.

First of all, the Alhambra was not only a series of palaces, but a whole city that a sultan, who is something very similar to a king, builds to live together with his family, together with the people who help him to govern, the bakers who prepared rich delicacies, the soldiers who defend him and, in short, all the people who work for him.

How many people do you think lived in the Alhambra? Surely more than you thought. There were about 2000 inhabitants.

Secondly, you should not forget that at that time the city of Granada was inhabited by the so-called “Andalusians” who were nothing more than Spanish people of Muslim religion. In the next post I promise to tell you where they came from, what customs they had, how long they stay here….

But now let’s continue with the Alhambra….

As I said the Alhambra was a city, a Muslim city that had a military quarter called Alcazaba where the soldiers who guarded and defended the city from possible attacks lived. It also had numerous palaces of which we have preserved a large part. It also had a hill where the fruits and vegetables that were consumed were grown, as well as a palace which the sultans sometimes used in summer and which we know as the Generalife. And, of course, there was a Medina, which in Arabic means “city”, where the artisans, servants, officials, etc. lived.

If you look at the following map you can find all these different areas.

The entire Alhambra was surrounded by a wall that protected it. I am sure that the city where you live also had a wall because at that time it was the usual thing to do, since there was a bad habit of attacking your neighbors.

There is something else that will allow you to differentiate a Muslim city, it is in their houses and palaces, all the decoration is on the inside and the outside is totally austere, it has no decoration at all, so that if you pass by you can not even guess the beauty and the treasures that are hidden inside. But when you finally open one of those doors, you will enter a magical world, a small paradise.

Do you want to know more about these fairytale palaces? Follow us in our next post “The Alhambra for kids. See it and understand it”.

Do you want to enjoy this unparalleled jewel? Let us accompany, don’t miss our private tours of the Alhambra for children, adapted to your children. We are sure that this visit will leave an indelible mark.

If you want to join some of our tours, do not hesitate to contact us.

 617 35 90 43

private tours of the Alhambra for children