Next time you're in Spain I highly reccomend making a stop in Granada to see one of the last Muslim strongholds in the western world, La Alhambra. It is as beautiful as it is amazing. It is a prime example of the eastern and western worlds colliding through architecture, art, myth, and culture. Islamic culture flourished after 711 when the Moors crossed the Straight of Gibraltar. For example, from the 8th - 11th centuries the Islamic world was a cultured, tolerant society where many different languages and religions co-existed. However, about 100 years later when the armies of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre defeated the Almohad forces at Las Navas de Tolosa, which is now considered to be the ¨gateway¨ of Andalucia, muslim power began to decline. In 1232 Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr was proclaimed sultan, later he was renamed Ibn al-Ahmar. Through his excellent diplomatic skills, he became the first Nasrid sultan and the only muslim governor in the Iberian Penninsula. Although, that was after he swore allegiance to king Fernando III. Granada was born and his dynasty, though weak and poor, lasted nearly two and a half centuries. La Alhambra can be deceiving. It was not as strong as you might think. From the time of Ibn al-Ahmar to when the Christians captured it, La Alhambra saw 23 sultans in 254 years. In the 15th century alone, there were 12 different sultans, many of whom reigned more than once on different occasions. How lucky am I to have been able to see the inside of La Alhambra? This was a feat few inhabitants of Granada ever experienced. One of the amazing things you'll find upon entering La Alhambra is water. Pools surrounded by polychrom plaster tiles, handicrafts, poems, and verses of the Koran inscribed on walls, pools, and fountains. This all reflects the still, quiet Nasarid decorative arts. The palaces are filled with water that is supplied by the snocapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The water is linked through a system of channels that provide water for irrigation, pools, and fountains. There are channels which slope against the current to retain water, places where the channels narrow to increase the thrust of the water, cavaties and bends which alter the flow of the water and this is all done without a splash or crash, in silence, so not to disturb the surface of the pools and distort the reflected images. The water played another important role. The water cools the atmosphere creating currents of air that slip through the intricate lattice work that provide shade in the summer. Also, in the winter the sun is reflected off the pools of water and marble, warming the air. Thanks to the well irrigated land, houses were constructed around La Alhambra. On the opposite side of La Alhambra, the gardens and buildings of El Generalife were constructed. It is believed that the Nasarids tried to recreate the paradise that they are promised in the Koran. Fertile gardens, flowing rivers, fruit trees, palm trees, flower, and shaded areas with beds to lie on were all part of the quiet atmosphere that is meant to bring peace and where wine doesn't go to one's head. Even with their grand ideas and interpretation of paradise they were limited in their construction by man's finite mind. THE EMPIRE Charles V also spent some time in La Alhambra. His palace was built to last, unlike many of the Nasarid palaces that were built with cheap materials that loose their luster rapidly. The beauty of the Nasarid palaces are not necessarily what leaves one in awe, but rather the lifestyle that they created. However, the grandness of Charles V's palace leaves the exact opposite impresion on the viewer. It inspires awe because of it's beauty and size. Charles V's palace took FOREVER to build. It took nearly a century to construct the walls and columns, while the roof wasn't finished until 1931!!!! It was built in the mudéjar architectural syle, which has Arabic influence that was later developed by Spanish artesans. It is quite the contrast to see the two styles co-existing in the same area. While his palace is beautiful it lacks the enchanted mystery that fills the Nasarid palaces. Even Charles wasn't in total agreement of destroying the beautiful legacy. He said, ¨What cannot be found anywhere has been destroyed in order to build waht can be seen anywhere.¨ Thank you Charles V, but too little too late! I don't think he would be totally displeased if he saw the palace today though. Even after nearly five centuries the Moorisco legacy lives on through their irrigated gardens and restored palaces. Their mystery, enchantement, and secrets are relived by readers of Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra. From the halls of living history, Abril