Casa de los Amigos

Outside the walls of the Alhambra, to the east, on the side of the Cerro del sol, is the Generalife, an area used by the Nasrid sultans for leisure, and also for agriculture. In the medieval times it boasted at least four orchards and the residence is a palace that the vizier Ibn al-Yayyab called the Royal House of Happiness. There has always been a close relationship between the Alhambra and this orchard, in such a way that the evolution of one cannot be contemplated without the other.

Next to the Generalife Palace are the remains of a complementary building identified by the name “Casa de los Amigos” (literally, “Friends’ house”), and it is this place that has been nominated by the Alhambra and Generalife Trust as the space of the month.

Traditionally, it has been accepted that the “Casa de los Amigos” must have been a residence for guests, attending to the Agriculture Treaty of Ibn Luyun (1282-1349) which stated that there should be lodging for friends and guests in all recreational palaces.
Outside the walls of the Alhambra, to the east, on the side of the Cerro del sol, is the Generalife, an area used by the Nasrid sultans for leisure, and also for agriculture. In the medieval times it boasted at least four orchards and the residence is a palace that the vizier Ibn al-Yayyab called the Royal House of Happiness. There has always been a close relationship between the Alhambra and this orchard, in such a way that the evolution of one cannot be c
The most widely accepted dating of the house corresponds to the Nasrid period, for some from the 13th century and therefore more rooted in the Almohad tradition, and for others the following Nasrid period, it even being possible that from the end of the 15th and during the 16th centuries it underwent important modifications.

La casa de los Amigos is distributed around two patios on different levels, in a dwelling structure similar to the Nasrid houses of the Alhambra. The entrance is found at the southern wall, from a rising cobbled street that, furthermore, linked the hamman alley with the intermediate orchards of the Generalife.