{"id":74347,"date":"2022-09-05T14:10:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T12:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visitanddo_1790.test\/?p=74347"},"modified":"2026-09-30T22:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:37:11","slug":"legends-of-the-alhambra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitanddo.com\/en\/legends-of-the-alhambra\/","title":{"rendered":"5 legends of the Alhambra in Granada"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are so many legends surrounding the Alhambra because, for centuries, It wasn\u2019t a monument: it was a building in a state of disrepair, inhabited by local residents<\/strong>. Stories were told there, and in 1829<\/strong> An American writer arrived, Washington Irving<\/strong>, who settled there and set them down in writing.<\/p>\n

These five are the ones with a documented history. And finally, a phenomenon that seems like a legend but is actually real.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. The Moor\u2019s Sigh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Alhambra, which Boabdil surrendered in January 1492.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 1492.<\/strong> Boabdil, the last Nasrid king, surrenders Granada to the Catholic Monarchs and leaves the city. Upon reaching a vantage point on the road to the coast, he turns to look at the Alhambra for the last time and sighs.<\/p>\n

And then his mother, Aixa, blurts out:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00abWeep like a woman for what you have failed to defend as a man.\u00bb<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is worth noting that:<\/strong> the sentence is tradition, not a document<\/strong>. There is no historical record of Aixa ever having said it. But the place does exist and is called: the Suspiro del Moro Pass<\/strong>, on the road from Granada to the coast, from where you can still see the city in the distance.<\/p>\n

Another account places Boabdil\u2019s departure at the Tower of the Seven Floors<\/strong>, and he says he asked for it to be bricked up so that no one would ever walk through it again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

2. The Moor\u2019s Chair<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Views
From the Silla del Moro, you can see the whole site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the top of Cerro del Sol<\/strong>, high above the Generalife, stand the ruins of a fortress. The locals call it the Moor\u2019s Chair<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The story:<\/strong> The final years of Boabdil\u2019s reign were a disaster, with riots in the city and strife within his own family. Legend has it that he used to come up here to take refuge<\/strong>, and from above he gazed down upon the city in turmoil, which was slipping through his fingers.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s still working:<\/strong> It is one of the best viewpoints in the complex, and can be reached on foot from the Generalife.<\/p>\n\n

3. The Enchanted Soldier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This one\u2019s by Irving, and it\u2019s got the best plot of them all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A student from Salamanca<\/strong> who was walking around Granada came across a soldier dressed in ancient armour and carrying a spear. The soldier told him that he was carrying more than three hundred years trapped by a curse<\/strong>, condemned to guard the Moorish king\u2019s treasure, and who it can only come out once every hundred years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To break the spell, two things are needed:<\/strong> a young Christian woman and a fasting priest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The young woman is fine.<\/strong> The priest, too. But the chosen one turns out to be a glutton<\/strong>: halfway through the spell, he pounces on the delicacies prepared for the end of the ritual, breaks his fast and it ruins everything<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The spell was not broken<\/strong>, and they say that the soldier is still wandering around the grounds, waiting for his next century.<\/p>\n\n

4. The Abencerrajes<\/h2>\n

It is the bloodiest, and there is physical evidence of this inside the palace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Abencerrajes<\/strong> They were a very powerful noble family at the Nasrid court. Legend has it that The sultan invited them to a banquet<\/strong> in a room at the Palacio de los Leones, and there the ordered everyone to be beheaded<\/strong>, one by one, on suspicion of conspiracy or \u2014 depending on the account \u2014 because one of them was having an affair with the sultana.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the bit that really grabs your attention:<\/strong> on the floor of the The Abencerrajes Room<\/strong>, next to the central fountain, there is reddish patches<\/strong> which tradition attributes to the blood that could never be washed away.<\/p>\n

The real explanation is more prosaic:<\/strong> are iron oxide<\/strong> of the water and the stone itself. But look for them, because they\u2019re there.<\/p>\n\n

5. The Three Princesses of the Tower of the Infantas<\/h2>\n

Another one by Irving<\/strong>, and the most novelistic.<\/p>\n

A sultan imprisons his three daughters \u2014 Zayda, Zoraida and Zorahaida \u2014<\/strong> in the Tower of the Princesses to protect them from the world. From the window, they watch as three captive Christian knights<\/strong> and they fall in love with them.<\/p>\n

The two eldest run away<\/strong> with their partners. The little girl, Zorahaida, backs out<\/strong> at the last moment, out of fear or loyalty to his father, and stays in the tower.<\/p>\n

And there it is, they say:<\/strong> His spirit haunts the Torre de las Infantas, lamenting the decision.<\/p>\n\n

\u2600\ufe0f And what seems like a legend but is actually true<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The light sweeps across the complex, marking the hours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is said that the Alhambra is a huge sundial. And it\u2019s not just a legend: it really is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The assembly is oriented in such a way that You can tell the time by the way the light moves through the rooms<\/strong>. The effect is more obvious at midday<\/strong>, when the shadows split the rooms in two.<\/p>\n

It is recognised as an astronomical instrument<\/strong>, and some describe it as the world\u2019s largest sundial. It\u2019s not just folklore: it\u2019s design.<\/p>\n\n

The Twelve Lions: what has been said about them<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The twelve lions, about whom all manner of things have been written.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There isn\u2019t just one legend; there are four interpretations<\/strong> which have been debated for centuries:<\/p>\n