Places and Spots in the Alhambra: The Daraxa garden (Alhambra)

The Daraxa garden (Alhambra)

Short description of the monument

The Daraxa garden, remodelled in the 16th century, is the best example of a closed garden, a place of charms and delights. It has the strong and sober style of the courtyard of Toledo, with its Castilian gallery, with bolsters and posts. It is an irregular trapeze resting on two of its sides on the great Palace of Carlos V (Charles V), and the other two sides are closed by a porticoe. In the center stands a big and beautiful Renaissance fountain; six narrow beds along the walls of this garden full with dense boxwood hedges, each one occupied by cypress and orange trees, crown the fountain and make a compact and dark mass which makes even more paradisiacal the effect of the water of the fountain.

History of the monument

This garden, also called “de los Naranjos” or “de los Mármoles”, was constructed between 1526 and 1538 on the existing gardens located between the “Alcazar” and the wall, while the rooms of Carlos V were also being constructed. The courtyard is limited to the south by the “Mirador de Daraxa” and by the “Dos Hermanas” hall, to the north by the rooms of Carlos V and to the east and west by the galleries built by the Emperor.

At this garden we find cypress trees, acacia, orange trees and boxwood hedges, surrounding the big central fountain of marble, decorated on the edges with a poem (the same as the fountain of the Lion’s courtyard), which was placed in 1626 using the great basin that was formerly was at the courtyard of the Golden Room.

On the south side of the courtyard there is an opening that leads to the basement of the “Dos Hermanas” room, which constitute a complex of rooms round the “Secretos” hall. This room is named “the Secrets Room” because if two people stand on opposite corners of this room and one of them speaks in a low tone or in whispers in the direction of the corner, the other person will clearly hear what the first one said, because of the acoustic that the vault creates.

Bibliography

• “Granada en tus manos. Alhambra y Generalife”. Author: Carlos Vílchez Vílchez. Ideal – 2006.

Web sites:

• http://www.alhambradegranada.org/historia/alhambraJDaraxa.asp

• http://www.worldisround.com/articles/308345/index.html

• http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jardin_andalusi/nazari/alhambra.htm

The Royal Palace

Introduction

Mexuar

Oratory

The Golden Room Courtyard

Golden Room

The Comares Palace

The Arrayanes Courtyard

The Barca Hall

The Comares Tower

The Embajadores Hall

The Lion’s Palace