Palace water system. Cultural hike in the natural surroundings of the Generalife

Stop at: Pabellón Principal de Acceso al Generalife

The South Pavilion flanks one of the smaller sides of the Patio de la Acequia, also known since ancient times as the "Patio de la Ría". It is a narrow, elongated space, whose main axis is crossed by the Acequia Real, the main hydraulic artery of the complex. Its original structure was in the form of a transept, similar to the Patio de los Leones in the Alhambra, which, being completely enclosed, had a highly intimate character that has been lost with subsequent alterations.

This pavilion consists of a curious portico compartmentalised into three spaces by two transverse arches, which are not repeated in Nasrid architecture. The arches rest on columns, the bases of which are buried under the present-day pavement, with Nasrid capitals of an archaic type. The central area, which has a double height, has another bell arch above the triple arch where the bell that served as a bell for the Christian entrance was located.

The ground floor is unrecognisable today, as it has been cut both horizontally, by partition walls, and vertically, by a mezzanine that is still preserved at both ends.

The construction of the upper floor is the result of a later alteration attributed to Yusuf III. At the end of the 19th century, there were no remains of the staircase leading to the upper floor and a new staircase was built in a room overhanging the nave.

Stop at: Castillo de Santa Elena

La Silla del Moro (popular name, from 1810) or Castillo de Santa Elena (from the 17th century), is a small castle from the Nasrid period, located on the northern slope of the Cerro de Santa Elena at an altitude of around 853 metres above sea level, which formed part of the defensive system of the Generalife and the Alhambra, in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

Stop at: Cerro del Sol

If you walk along the Cerro del Sol, above the Sabika, overlooking the upper part of the Generalife, you will enjoy a different panoramic view of the Alhambra and Granada. In the Muslim period, the whole area was provided with palaces, almunias for the summer recreation of the court, defensive fortresses and civil buildings to improve the urban planning of the area.

The Palace of the Alixares, nowadays integrated in the Cemetery of San José, is well known. Although less well known, we encourage you to walk around the area of the Silla del Moro or Castle of Santa Elena and the Palace of Dar al-Arusa.

In the Nasrid period, around the 13th century, on the northern slope of the Cerro del Sol and overlooking the Darro valley and Granada, a defensive bastion was built, the Muslim name of which is unknown. As part of the defensive structure of the Generalife, its function was to control the distribution of water from the Acequia Real to the surrounding palaces and orchards. In addition, it also protected the small palaces in the surrounding area.

In the Christian period, around the 17th century, it was called the Castle of Santa Elena, due to its consecration as a church. From the 19th century onwards, the people of Granada began to call it the Silla del Moro (Moor's Chair), a name that has survived to the present day. Over time, it deteriorated due to neglect. At the beginning of the 20th century, several negative interventions, including the intention to build a restaurant, put an end to any possible decorative or epigraphic remains.

Stop at: Fuente del Avellano

Hidden under the slopes of the red hill, it longs for a past in which it offered pomegranate. A trickle of water still falls from the fountains of El Avellano. They are the last tears of the sultana Aixa, Boabdil's mother, who weeps after being abandoned by Muley Hacen in love with the Christian Zoraida. Its taste is sour, bitter and fresh. Its colour is crystalline, because it is fairy water and contains the mysteries of the Alhambra hill. Very close to the city of Granada, on the left bank of the Darro, a place surrounded by willows, hackberry trees, elms and blackberries has been the scene of ancestral mysteries, afternoons of poetry and longing. It is a landscape of permanent shadow that looks towards the Abadía del Sacromonte as the recipient of the esoteric fantasy of the plumbeous books, situated at the midpoint of an imaginary line that links them with the nerve centre of the Nasrid palaces. (...)

Stop at: Plaza nueva

Despite its name, Plaza Nueva is the oldest square in Granada and is located at one of the city's high points, between the modern commercial centre and the charming and touristy Carrera del Darro.