AndalucÃa is a beautiful region in the south of Spain, home to some of the country’s richest and most famous cultural attributes. The Alhambra, in Granada is one of them. An official UNESCO heritage site, the Alhambra is one of Spain’s top visited sites, drawing over 6000 people every day. It’s a fortress and palace perched on the top of a hill, overlooking the old town of Granada and set against a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada peaks.
This marvelous piece of Islamic architecture was originally built in the 9th century as a walled city but the current structure dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries when it served as a residence for the Moorish monarchs of the Nasrid dynasties. The name Alhambra derives from the Arabic al-qala’a al-hamra (the Red Castle) due to the reddish color of its outer walls.