The court of the lindaraja

Adjoining the Court of the Grated Window is a similar structure that is more monastic in character. The Court of the Lindaraja owes its name to the prominent open air observation point on the southern side of the Palace of the Lions wall.

What then would seem to be an open air garden below is in fact enclosed by the three rooms of the Emperor’s Chambers, with arcaded galleries on the ground floor making use of columns removed from other sites in the Alhambra. The affect is cloister-like, which is further enhanced by the design of the garden with its fountain in the middle.

Made of stone from the Elvira Mountains, the base, ridge and pilaster of the fountain are Baroque. From around 1626 to 1995 the fountain had an adorned marble Nasrid basin with epigraph inscriptions, probably meant for the Court of the Lions, but which is currently kept in the Museum of the Alhambra.

Leaving the court and the Palace can be done through only one of the three rooms, which also has an upper-floor gallery that until recently was called “Châteaubriand’s room” owing to the fact that the famous French author and politician left his signature on one of the columns that came from the Court of Machuca, which had been demolished.