Court of the Myrtles
The Court of the Myrtles is the central part of the Comares Palace inside the Alhambra palace complex in Granada, Spain. It is located east of the Mexuar and west of the Palace of the Lions. It was begun by the Nasrid sultan Isma'il I in the early 14th century and significantly modified by his successors Yusuf I and Muhammad V later in the same century. In addition to the Court of the Myrtles, the palace's most important element is Hall of Ambassadors, the sultan's throne hall and one of the most impressive chambers in the Alhambra.
Names and etymology
Etymology of "Comares"
The name of the Palace, Comares, has led to various etymological research. For instance, Diego de Guadix wrote a dictionary about Arabic words in which it is said that Comares originally comes from cun and ari. The first term means "stand up" and the second one "look", in other words it would have meant "Stand up and look around" or possibly "Open your eyes and see", which is a way of referring the beauty of the place. In the sixteenth century, a historian from Granada called Luis de Mármol Carvajal claimed that the term Comares derived from the word Comaraxía, which actually has a meaning related to a craftsmanship labor very appreciated by Muslims: a manufacturing technique of glass for exterior and ceilings. A third suggested theory is that the name comes from the Arabic word qumariyya or qamariyya. These ones designate the stained glasses that can be glimpsed from the Hall of the Ambassadors' balcony. According to scholar James Dickie, another possibility is that Qumarish was the name of a region in the North of Africa where most craftsmen came from, in other words, the place might be called Comares in honour of the people who worked there. Yet another suggestion is that it derives from an Arabic word relating to the Moon, such as the adjective form qamarīyya.Names of the courtyard
The name of the Court of the Myrtles is due to the myrtle bushes that surround the central pool. Because of the pool, the courtyard is also called the Patio de la Alberca. It is sometimes also called the Patio de Comares.History
The Alhambra was a palace complex and citadel begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada. Several palaces were built and expanded by his successors Muhammad II and Muhammad III. In 1314 Isma'il I came to the throne and undertook many further works in the Alhambra. His reign marked the beginning of the "classical" period or high point of Nasrid architecture. Isma'il decided to build a new palace complex to serve as the official palace of the sultan and the state, known as the Qaṣr al-Sultan or Dār al-Mulk. The core of this complex was the Comares Palace, while another wing of the palace, the Mexuar, extended to the west. On the east side the Comares Baths, a royal hammam, were also built. The baths are probably the section that is best-preserved from Isma'il I's reign, as the rest of the complex was significantly modified and refurbished by his successors.Yusuf I expanded the palace, most notably building the Comares Tower and the Hall of the Ambassadors on the north side of the Court of the Myrtles; prior to this, a smaller lookout room or mirador may have existed on this side, similar to earlier palaces like the Partal Palace or the Generalife. He also built or converted existing towers along the northern walls of the Alhambra to serve new purposes, such as the Torre de Machuca in the Mexuar and the Torre de la Cautiva in another area further east. Under Muhammad V Nasrid architecture reached its apogee, which is evident in the nearby Palace of the Lions which he built to the east of the Comares Palace. Between 1362 and 1365, he rebuilt or refurbished the Mexuar and between 1362 and 1367 he refurbished the Comares Palace. The Comares Façade on the south side of the Patio de Cuarto Dorado is dated to 1370 during his reign. Thus, the Comares Palace's current appearance and decoration was finalized by Muhammad V, whose name is mentioned in many surviving inscriptions inside.
After the 1492 conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, the Alhambra was converted into a royal palace of Christian Spain. Significant modifications were carried out in the Mexuar and in the environment around the Comares Palace. The Catholic Monarchs linked the Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions together for the first time. The Spanish monarchs also knew the significance of the Comares Tower in the complex and when they visited the Alhambra the royal flag was flown from this tower instead of the Torre de la Vela in the Alcazaba. In the 16th century, some southern parts of the Comares Palace were demolished to make way for the new Renaissance-style Palace of Charles V.
In the 19th century Rafael Contreras undertook many restorations across the Alhambra palace complex, sometimes adding his own modifications. In the Comares Palace he added crenelated turrets above the east and west ends of the Sala de la Barca and also repainted the Comares Baths in garish colours that are likely inaccurate. In 1890, a fire severely damaged the Sala de la Barca, resulting in the loss of its wooden ceiling. The ceiling was later reconstructed with the help of surviving fragments and finished in 1965.
Description of the Comares Palace
General layout
The Comares Palace is centered around the Court of the Myrtles, with the Comares Tower and the Hall of Ambassadors to the north and a southern pavilion or structure that was mostly demolished to make way for the Palace of Charles V to the south. The Comares Palace is contiguous with the Mexuar complex to the west, to which it was always connected and with which it formed one large complex. It was originally independent of the Palace of the Lions to the east, but is now connected to it via a small passage. A royal baths complex, the Comares Baths, is annexed to the palace on the east side.Comares Façade and access to the palace
The Court of the Myrtles was entered from the west via a smaller courtyard, the Patio del Cuarto Dorado, at the east end of the Mexuar. The Patio de Cuarto Dorado is known for a monumental, richly decorated southern façade that has been interpreted as the "façade" of the Comares Palace and is known as the Comares Façade or Façade of the Comares Palace. This façade dates from the time of Muhammad V. It has two identical doors, with the left door leading via a winding passage to the Court of the Myrtles and the right door leading to other private chambers, possibly a treasury, attached to the Mexuar.The façade is one of the most heavily decorated walls in the Alhambra, covered in stucco decoration for most of its surface except for tile decoration along the lower portions. The carved stucco includes an Arabic inscription featuring a poem by Ibn Zamrak and the Throne Verse of the Qur'an, which may indicate that this area was sometimes used by the sultan to hold audiences or other ceremonies. Above the doors are two double-arched windows and one single-arched window between them. Above these is a muqarnas cornice that precedes a wide wooden eave, which in turn would have sheltered the seat of the sultan at the top of the courtyard steps.
Court of the Myrtles
The Court of the Myrtles measures 23 to 23.5 metres wide and 36.6 metres long, with its long axis aligned roughly north-to-south. At the middle, aligned with the axis of the court, is a wide reflective pool. The pool measures 34 metres long and 7,10 meters wide. The myrtle bushes that are the court's namesake grow in hedges along either side of this pool. Two circular floor fountains are located at either end of the pool. The water from each fountain runs along a short channel towards the pool, but the channel is design to let the water slow and pause before emptying into the pool, thus reducing the formation of ripples and preserving the water's still surface. The effect of the water reflecting sunlight during the day as well as the image of the architecture around it is a crucial part of the aesthetic effect of this space. Elongated rectangular courtyards with a central water basin were already an established feature of Nasrid architecture that is evident in older palaces of the Alhambra, in particular the Palacio del Partal Alto.At the south and north ends of the courtyard are ornate porticos consisting of a wide central arch flanked by three smaller arches on either side. The arches are richly decorated with stucco sculpted in arabesque, sebka, and epigraphic motifs. This decoration, like that of the halls behind them, dates from the time of Muhammad V, probably between 1362 and 1367. The gallery spaces behind the porticos are flanked at their east and west ends by decorative niches covered with muqarnas vaulting.
Behind each portico is a set of halls. The southern halls or "southern pavilion" were largely demolished during the construction of the adjacent Palace of Charles V in the 16th century. Only the façade of this structure was preserved in order to maintain the visual integrity of the courtyard. The doors on the sides of the Court of the Myrtles lead to four rooms that probably served as living spaces, while other doors lead to passages to and from the Patio de Cuarto Dorado to the west and the Comares Baths to the east. A passage also now leads to the Palace of the Lions, but during the Nasrid period these two palaces were completely independent of each other. They were only connected together after the 1492 conquest, when the Catholic Monarchs moved in.
''Sala de la Barca''
Behind the northern portico of the courtyard is a muqarnas-decorated archway that leads to the Sala de la Barca, a wide rectangular hall with an ornate vaulted wood ceiling and alcoves at its east and west ends. The ceiling has a rounded profile and is covered in geometric motifs. The alcoves at either end are separated from the rest of the hall by round arches embellished with muqarnas spandrels transitioning to the wooden vault. The original ceiling was destroyed by fire in 1890, but with the help of surviving fragments it was later meticulously reconstructed, a process that was completed in 1965. A popular etymology alleges that the name Barca comes from the Spanish word for "boat", referring to the shape of the ceiling. Most scholars, however, accept that the name is probably instead derived from the Arabic word baraka, meaning "blessing", which is included in the Arabic inscriptions around the hall.Some scholars, such as James Dickie, have suggested that the hall was the bedroom and summer apartment of the sultan. Robert Irwin argues that this is unlikely, given the room's location at the entrance of an audience chamber. The official guidebook of the Alhambra, published by the Patronato, calls the hall an "antechamber" to the Hall of the Ambassadors, though the side alcoves of the hall may have held beds. It may have also been a sitting room or waiting room. A doorway in the corner of the western alcove gives access to a small winding passage that leads to a preserved latrine chamber.