Читать книгу The Alhambra. The Arabian conquest of the Peninsula with a particular account of the Mohammedan architecture and decoration онлайн

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The result of his research and discovery Don Raphaél placed before the public in a scholarly work, entitled, Etude Déscriptive des Monuments Arabes, published at Madrid, and which reached its fourth edition in 1889.

A separate, or supplementary volume was promised, which should treat of Arabic Inscriptions remaining in Seville, Córdova, and more particularly in Granada, belonging to the most important period of the Mohammedan Domination in those parts of the Peninsula. It is greatly to be hoped that the work may make its appearance under the auspices of his son, Don Mariano Contreras, the present Conservator of the Alhambra.

That portion of the Alhambra, called the Casa Real, or Royal House, appears to be but a very small part of the ancient Palace of the Moorish Kings of Granada. It is to be regretted that no traces exist at the present day by which its limits can be accurately defined; but we may judge, from the gallery of

PANELS AND INSCRIPTIONS IN THE ALHAMBRA.

two stories at the southern end of the Court of the Fish-pond, which still remains, that the part of the Moorish building destroyed to make way for the Palace of Charles V., must have been of considerable consequence. No traces of the numerous apartments, which must have been required for guards and attendants, now exist; and a most important feature—the hareem—is wanting.