The Alhambra in Spain | a MUST SEE in Granada

By Roberto (Updated Mar 22)

⏱ 3 min

Considered by some to be the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Alhambra in Spain is a must see. This monument-city complex is located in Granada, a wonderful city with tons of history that will make a perfect excuse to visit Spain.

What and Where is the Alhambra in Spain?

The Alhambra is… simply amazing. It’s no joke when we say it’s one of the best monuments en Earth. This Moorish masterpiece started as a fortress around 670 CE, thanks to its privileged position. Years later, during a glorious Muslim era throughout the 13-15th centuries, it evolved into a red citadel of high walls and towers. In fact, the Alhambra means, The Red One, thanks to its reddish tones.

The citadel became like a mini city inside Granada, with the military zone – Alcazaba – the barracks, the outstanding Nasrid Palaces and much much more. After the Catholic Kings conquered Granada in 1492, they also did some modifications in the Alhambra. Today, this complex is 100,000-square-meters and it is the second monument most visited in Spain, with more than 2 million visitants per year. It is only surpassed by the Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona.

To find the Alhambra in Spain, you have to go to Granada, in Andalusia. The city has multiple tourist options, history and quality food 😋 and it’s well worth a visit. Also, this part of Spain has an interesting Muslim past and amazing art pieces can only be found here. Did you know that Moorish -a type of Muslims – were in the Spanish peninsula for more than 700 hundred years? In case you’re going to do a trip around Spain, you’d better consider visiting Granada. Undoubtedly!

Curiosities of the Alhambra

• It’s a huge clock of Sun. The entire citadel is perfectly aligned to work as a sundial. At noon, half of the rooms have shade, and the other half sunlight.
• The patterns in the walls have intentional mistakes. The designers believed that only Allah could do perfect things.

• Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
• The Alhambra was abandoned for decades! When the Spanish Golden Era started to decline, at the beginning of the XVIII century, the Alhambra ended up practically abandoned.
• It almost got destroyed in the Spanish War of Independence, against Napoleon.
• But it was resurrected 🙂 Thanks to the American Washington Irving, a writer who fell in love with Granada and the Alhambra, and also wrote Tales of The Alhambra.

Palacios Nazaríes – Nasrid Palaces

If soldiers lived in the Alcazaba, where did the kings of Granada and the court live? In an epic palace complex, called Palacios Nazaríes. The Nasrid governors, were the last Hispacnic-Arab dynasty in Spain and had an amazing taste for decoration. The Nasrid palaces – there are three – have INSANE decoration in the walls with refined details.

The three Palacios Nazaríes that form the Alhambra are: the Mexuar, the Palace of Comares, (or Yusuf I) and the Palace of the Lions (or Mohammed V). In my case, the details in Palace of Comares really shocked me.

In the visit, you will visit them in order or construction, and, as you will see, the younger generations tried to outperform the previous. The harmony between architecture, delicatessen, light, space and ornamental details is excellent.

Alhambra Tickets

When you are looking for the website to buy the tickets, you’ll see that there are MANY websites selling tours and tickets, but there’s only one that’s official.

As we mention in this other post, we do recommend getting a tour to visit the Alhambra. That’s why buying the tickets in other websites, that offer guided tours, can be interesting. Don’t miss it in case you have doubts about when to visit the Alhambra.

The tickets (just the tickets) are 14 € for the entire monument, but please get a guide! Even if it’s a bit bad… you’ll learn some history and anecdotes. At the main entrance, there are also tours that you can join (and pay) in case you didn’t get one. But again, we recommend getting one in advance.

About the different tours, we provide more details in the post above. Another piece of advice is to buy the tickets in advance. How many days in advance? Well… some months if possible. There are months when the Alhambra gets incredibly busy.

In my opinion, the Alhambra is probably one of the monuments that has impacted me the most. When I was there, I could imagine hundreds of workers and architects, designing everything down to the detail, in a prosperous era. Contrasting with the “common” European style, I’m sure the Alhambra will charm you.