Short description of the monument
This courtyard is also called "Mirtos", "Arrayanes" or "Alberca" courtyard, due to the elements present at this courtyard. This palace was started by "Ismail I", continued by "Yusuf I" and finished by "Mohamed V" in 1370. It was the official seat of the sultan, even though he had other palaces. The original function of "Comares" was to house the executive power, the government.
We can divide it in four areas; a first area would be the north compound of "Comares", which houses the "Embajadores" lounge, used for private receptions, and the "Barca" hall used as a resting area. The south side was reserved for the concubines and the staff. At the east and west sides, the rooms of the four wives of the sultan were located.
History of the monument
The "Arrayanes" courtyard has been called different ways along the years. The actual name (as the "Mirtos" courtyard) is due to the thick myrtle hedges, whose colour make a contrast with the white marble floor of the courtyard that surrounds the central pond. It was also called "Estanque" or the "Alberca" courtyard, precisely because of the central pond, which is 34 meters length by 7,10 meters wide, and that divides the courtyard lengthwise and receives the water from two marble basins placed at each end.
At both sides of the courtyard there are two naves with rooms and at the smaller sides, there are porticoes, supported by columns with cubic capitals, with seven semicircular arches adorned with pierced rhombs and inscriptions of praise to God. The central arch is bigger than the other six, and has thick spandrels decorated with "al-tawriq" (vegetal ornamental motif, characteristic of the Arab decoration) and capitals embellished with "muqarbas" (decorative motif based on vertically juxtaposed bows or prisms).
The south gallery has at its ends "al-hazana" (closets) with shelves embellished with "muqarbas" (decorative motif based on vertically juxtaposed bows or prisms) and an inscription that reads: "The help and protection of God and an splendid victory for our Lord Abu Abd' Allah, Emir of the Moslem". The majority of the inscriptions that exist at this courtyard are praises to God or to the Emir. The rooms that existed at this south porticoe were partially demolished to construct the "Carlos V Palace". On the upper floor, over a corridor, we can find a gallery with six arches and an elevated lintel at the center, with wooden bolsters, spaced and covered with "al-tawriq" motifs, with lattice windows of the 19th century.
The fact that different rooms were demolished, has originated the myth that the Emperor Carlos V destroyed the winter palace of the Alhambra to construct his own, although several researches (not all coincide in what was in those rooms) coincide, however, in the fact that there is no evidence of the existence of such a winter palace.
The lateral naves were used as a residence for women. On the ground floor there are various doors that connect (or connected) with different rooms. The decoration of the courtyard at this gallery, except the tile socle, was re-done during the 19th century, with similar adornment to the opposite porticoe.
On the upper part of the north gallery, behind which the "Comares" tower is, there is a parapet with two small lateral towers, which were rebuilt in 1890 after suffering a fire that burned the ceiling of this gallery and of the next room. The ends of the gallery present closets with arches, cupolas and "muqarbas" shelves over a tiled socle of the end of the 16th century. This socle has an inscription at the upper part corresponding to a poem of Ibn Zamrak, in honour to Mohamed V after the conquest of Algeciras in 1368.
Bibliography
• "Granada en tus manos. Alhambra y Generalife". Author: Carlos Vílchez Vílchez. Ideal – 2006.
Web sites:
• http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/recursos_informaticos/andared01/alhambra/
comares/patioarrayan.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/soho/gallery/5885/castella/arrayane.htm
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