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| Court of Loins Fountain |
The court of the lions is located in Granada,
Spain in the fortress/palace, Alhambra. More
specifically the court of loins is located in the
Palace of the lions, in Nasrid Palaces built by
Yusuf the first and his son Mohammed the 5th
during the 14th century. The Nasrid palace was
mostly used for a place for business,
entertainment, ceremonies, and for residents.
The court is in the middle of the palace
surrounded by many columns and hallways,
almost resembling a similarity to cloisters in
Christian churches. Beginning from the center
(where the fountain is) the twelve lions statues
spits water to four steams that represent the four
rivers of paradise. These four rivers are referring to the rivers that
associated to with the Garden of Eden. The four rivers are Pishon, Gihon, the
Tigris, and the Euphrates. The people at the time consider water as a symbol of
life, which make sense since back than civilization usually started where there
is water. This feature shows how the palaces also consider the use of nature
and art to form the space. The spaces is later surrounded by four halls, The
Hall of The Two Sister to the North, The Hall of The Kings to the East, The
Hall of The Abencerrajes to the South, and finally The Hall of Mocarabes to the
West.
Starting with the Hall of The Two Sister it
was name after the two-giant slabs of marble on the floor. When you enter the
room and look up you’ll see a star shaped ceiling of Mocarabes and is the same
shaped ceiling as in the Hall of the Abenerrajes.
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| Ceiling of Mocarabes |
What are Mocarabes? Mocarabes
look like stalagmites that are usually found in caves, but have a vertical prisms shape projected downwards. Next is
The Hall of Kings, which was used as a reception area and celebrations. The hall
got its name from the paintings that are on the ceiling of the space; the painting
is claimed to be royalty and depicts the 10 kings of the Nasrid Dynasty.
As stated before The Hall of the
Abenerrajes has a similar ceiling like the Hall of the Two Sister. Near the top
of this hall’s ceiling there are small
windows that let in sunlight at
different angels to create the feeling of movement. The way this hall got its
name was due to the brutal murder of Abencerrajes knights to which no one
really know which king orders their death. Last but not forgot, The Hall of
Mocarabes, which was also use for receptions and celebrations. Near the
entrance there are Muqarnas that are curved like a segment almost
looking like honeycombs. Under the patio there
are more Mocarabes that more there for decorations and aesthetics, but as an observation note they were placed in
areas like arches and ceiling so it wasn’t just aesthetics.
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| Mocarabes, in the Hall of Mocarabes |
Also another thing to
note is that this hall is closer to the court of lions.
With all of this the court of lions isn’t
just for decoration, but it is also used as a centerpiece for a very well
organized layout. Beside the court of lions fountain there are four more
fountains in the area; two are west and east surround by the columns and the
other two are north and south behind the outer walls. These four gardens help
create a layout for four identical gardens to help create the Islamic image of paradise.
[6]Irwin, Robert. The Alhambra. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2004. Print.
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