“On the departure of the French they blew up several towers of the outer wall, and left the fortifications scarcely tenable.  Since that time the military importance of the post is at an end.  The garrison is a handful of invalid soldiers, whose principal duty is to guard some of the outer towers, which serve occasionally as a prison of state; and the governor, abandoning the lofty hill of the Alhambra, resides in the centre of Granada, for the more convenient dispatch of his official duties.

Interior of the Alhambra

“The Alhambra has been so often and so minutely described by travellers, that a mere sketch will, probably, be sufficient for the reader to refresh his recollection; I will give, therefore, a brief account of our visit to it the morning after our arrival in Granada.

“Leaving our posada of La Espada, we traversed the renowned square of the Vivarrambla, once the scene of Moorish jousts and tournaments, now a crowded market-place.  From thence we proceeded along the Zacatin, the main street of what, in the time of the Moors, was the Great Bazaar, where the small shops and narrow allies still retain the Oriental character.  Crossing an open place in front of the palace of the captain-general, we ascended a confined and winding street, the name of which reminded us of the chivalric days of Granada.  It is called the Calle, or street of the Gomeres, from a Moorish family famous in chronicle and song.  This street led up to a massive gateway of Grecian architecture, built by Charles V. forming the entrance to the domains of the Alhambra.

“At the gate were two or three ragged and superannuated soldiers, dozing on a stone bench, the successors of the Zegris and the Abencerrages; while a tall meagre varlet, whose rusty-brown cloak was evidently intended to conceal the ragged state of his nether garments, was lounging in the sunshine and gossiping with an ancient sentinel on duty.  He joined us as we entered the gate, and offered his services to show us the fortress.

“I have a traveller’s dislike to officious ciceroni, and did not-altogether like the garb of the applicant.

“‘You are well acquainted with the place, I presume?’

“’Ninguno mas; pues Senor, soy hijo de la Alhambra.’—­(Nobody better; in fact, Sir, I am a son of the Alhambra!)

“The common Spaniards have certainly a most poetical way of expressing themselves.  ‘A son of the Alhambra!’ the appellation caught me at once; the very tattered garb of my new acquaintance assumed a dignity in my eyes.  It was emblematic of the fortunes of the place, and befitted the progeny of a ruin.