GRANADA, SPAIN:)

The history of Granada is amazing and pictures can't come close to getting the feel and beauty of this city. The Moors ruled Spain for 700 years (711-1492) with Granada the last stronghold. The Moorish fortress, the Alhambra, consists of the Palacios Nazaries (1300's) with it's Alcazaba castle built on a Roman fort ; Generalife Gardens and summer palace for the sultan; and the 1500 Christian Charle's V palace built after the reconquering of Spain by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand. The pictures are of the Alhambra sitting on a hill below snow capped mountains and the Palacios Nazaries. The Palace is decorated inside with carved wooden ceilings, stucco "stalactities", ceramic tiles, molded plaster walls and filigree windows! Outside are gardens ( Generalife garden is 700 years old!) and the use of precious water as a symbol of life. The historic center of Granada has a beautiful cathedral built on the destroyed Moorish mosque and the Royal Chapel with the tombs of Isabel and Ferdinand. From Granada, Christopher Columbus was sent to "sail the ocean blue in 1492"!