Alcázar Genil
Castle · Granada
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Only one pavilion survives of the palace the Almohads raised beside the Genil in 1218 or 1219. Inside it, a small square qubba is roofed with interlaced wood under a muqarnas frieze, the plasterwork walls lit by twenty small lattice windows near the top. The pond it once looked over, where the court watched staged naval battles, went under a road.
The palace was built in 1218 or 1219 under the Almohad dynasty and known then as al-Qasr al-Sayyid, the palace of the lord, beside the Genil outside the city walls. Fountains, orchards, and gardens surrounded it, centered on a pond where mock naval battles, naumaquias, were staged for the court. When Muhammad I took Granada in 1237, the palace passed to the Nasrid dynasty and became a retreat for grand receptions and visiting royal households. After the Christian conquest in 1492, the estate was eventually sold to the Duke of Gor, whose heirs added two new wings and an entrance portico in 1863, designed by the Alhambra restorer Rafael Contreras. A road later cut through the gardens and destroyed the pond, though archaeological work during construction of the Alcázar Genil metro station uncovered remains of another large pool nearby.
What you see
The surviving pavilion's central hall is a small square qubba roofed with an interlaced wooden ceiling and a muqarnas frieze, its plasterwork walls lit by twenty small lattice windows near the top.
Practical
The pavilion, its gardens, and the Fundación Francisco Ayala housed inside are open to visitors Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 15:00.
nasrid palacealmohad architectureroyal residencegranada