Hello, everybody! To make your homebound days a little more enjoyable, we bring you a very curious topic! The legends of the Alhambra.
We begin with the Legend of the Abandoned Hotel. This building you have surely seen walking along the Paseo de los Tristes. Originally it was the hotel Bosques de La Alhambra although nowadays it is known among the people of Granada as the Hotel Reuma, because of the absence of sun in all its rooms. It has a dimension of 300 square meters distributed in 4 floors.
It was built at the beginning of the 20th century for travellers who came here to visit the Alhambra but it was only open for two years because it was very uncomfortable, cold and gloomy due to its proximity to the River Darro.
The Legend of El Suspiro del Moro From this legend comes the famous phrase that I am sure many of you have heard before: “cry like a woman what you have not been able to defend like a man”
After the Catholic Monarchs conquered Granada, King Boabdil had to go into exile and as he was climbing the hill of the same name he began to lament and cry. It was at this time that his mother uttered that famous phrase.
The Legend of the Patio de los Leones. It is said that a Princess named Zaira travelled to Granada with her father. They and their entourage settled in the Alhambra. One day, the Princess read her father’s diary where he told her that he had killed Zaira’s biological parents when she was 1 year old. It was then that the curse that her mother had cast on the talisman that Zaira carried was activated, consisting of the fact that if the girl ever found out the truth, a curse would fall on the King. In the courtyard where the Lions’ Courtyard is now located, the young girl asked her father if what she had read was true. Her father affirmed it and the legend says that the talisman was activated and her father with the 11 men became 12 stone lions.
Legend of the name Alhambra. The Arabic meaning of this word means Red Fortress, although throughout history there have been some studies where it is said that it was a bright white colour. The main reason for being called “the red one” is because during its construction, the workers also worked at night and with their torches the Alhambra looked red from different points of the city of Granada.
We hope you have enjoyed this publication and that it will help you on your next visit to Granada and the Alhambra!
