28 GRANADA 



ravish the eye and the soul. There is, too, such 

 an abundance of waters that, overflowing in 

 torrents from the tanks and reservoirs, they 

 form on the declivity streams and cascades, 

 whose sonorous murmurs are heard afar off. At 

 the foot of the walls are spacious gardens, the 

 domain of the Sultan, and leafy groves, through 

 the dense greenery of which the white battle- 

 ments gleam like stars. There is, in short, 

 around the circuit of the walls, no spot that is 

 not planted with gardens and orchards." The 

 scene has not greatly changed since the Arab 

 wrote. Gurgling brooks still run down the slopes 

 of the Alhambra Hill, and nightingales sing in 

 the thick woods of elm. 



The Alcazaba, being the oldest part of the palace- 

 fortress, should be studied first. It is entered by 

 the Torre and Casa de las Armas, through a horse- 

 shoe arch in red brick, with fine azulejos or glazed 

 tiles. To the left is the Torre de Homenage, 

 with which war and time have not dealt too 

 gently. It contains, it is interesting to note, a 

 Roman votive altar, embedded by the Moorish 

 builders in the masonry, and inscribed by " the 

 grateful Valerius to his most indulgent wife, 

 Cornelia." At the opposite extremity of the 

 Alcazaba is the Torre de la Vela, or Watch 

 Tower. It is in two storeys, communicating 

 by a dark and narrow staircase, with loopholes 



