THE ALHAMBRA 55 



it was under the graceful arcades which support 

 the dome that the bathers underwent the kneading 

 and rubbing processes lately introduced among 

 us. The chamber is lighted from above through 

 star-shaped apertures. The inscriptions refer to 

 the felicity awaiting men in this palace of delight. 

 The bathing-apartments consist of three halls 

 and two smaller chambers, vulgarly called the 

 Infantas' Baths. 



THE TOWERS AND GATES OF THE 

 ALHAMBRA 



" The wall of the Nasrites," writes Senor 

 Fernandez Jimenez, " of which scarcely a patch 

 remains unimpaired, measured about 1400 metres 

 from one extremity to the other, and was defended 

 by twenty-six towers, counting as one the two 

 buttresses that defended the gate of the Siete 

 Suelos. To this number should properly be added 

 the Torre de las Armas, which is pierced by a gate 

 common to the Alcazaba and Alhambra, and is 

 therefore also a Nasrite work. The citadel was 

 fortified, moreover, by five bastions, corre- 

 sponding to as many gates, and by various 

 external defences, of which traces remain in the 

 modern alamedas. The thickness of the towers 

 varies according to their situation and purpose, 

 the distance between them ranging from 34 to 

 64 metres approximately." At the present day 



