Essay on The Alhambra

Located eight miles east of downtown Los Angeles, Alhambra is often referred to as the "Gateway to the San Gabriel Valley." A distinctive logo depicts a Moorish-style archway leading into the City reminiscent of the historic Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The City received its name from a book entitled The Alhambra by Washington Irving, published in 1832, 71 years before its incorporation in 1903. The majority of land within the City's current boundaries was included in a 1771 land grant that led to the establishment of the nearby San Gabriel Mission. While its history and origins retain a heavy Spanish influence, the City's current population of 85,804 consists of a wide range of ethnic groups and many businesses in and around Alhambra have ties to international commerce.

The name Alhambra comes from an Arabic root which means "red or crimson castle", perhaps due to the hue of the towers and walls that surround the entire hill of La Sabica which by starlight is silver but by sunlight is transformed into gold. But there is another more poetic version, evoked by the Moslem analysts who speak of the construction of the Alhambra fortress "by the light of torches", the reflections of which gave the walls their particular coloration. Created originally for military purposes, the Alhambra was an alcazaba (fortress), an alcázar (palace) and a small medina (city), all in one. This triple character helps to explain many distinctive features of the monument (Stierlin, Stierlin, 51-54).

The history of the Nazarí Alhambra begins when Mohamed I (1232-1273), the founder of the dinasty, leaves the Zirí Citadel, situated in the Albaycín, and he establishes his new royal residence in the Alhambra after the conquest of Granada in 1237. Yusuf I, who reigned between 1333 and 1354, fortified the building complex, which had already spread over 740 m. In length x 200 m. wide in its more opened part...............

ESSAY ON THE AMERICAS