1 00:00:02,799 --> 00:00:11,339 The Alhambra, a palace citadel built for the Nasrid dynasty in the 13th century, is known as the last sigh of the Moors. 2 00:00:12,759 --> 00:00:20,160 Poetry was the inspiration for the architectural concept of this, the palace of the last Islamic Sultanate on the Iberian Peninsula. 3 00:00:21,399 --> 00:00:29,239 From the inscriptions engraved in the palace's stone walls, the architectural combination is understood to be a realization of 4 00:00:29,379 --> 00:00:32,420 descriptions of paradise found in Islamic verse. 5 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:42,799 For are there not in this garden wonders, that God has made incomparable in their beauty, 6 00:00:42,799 --> 00:00:54,240 and a sculpture of pearls with a transparently light, the borders of which are trimmed with seed-pearl? 7 00:00:54,240 --> 00:01:08,439 Great architectural monuments not only stand as a testament of past time periods and cultures, 8 00:01:08,439 --> 00:01:15,939 They entice curiosity, contemplation and spark the imagination. 9 00:01:15,939 --> 00:01:21,519 What human stories have these ruins witnessed as they withstood centuries of violence and 10 00:01:21,519 --> 00:01:23,620 transformation? 11 00:01:23,620 --> 00:01:29,760 What rises and falls of dynasties and kingdoms, personal dramas and human fates have unfolded 12 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,180 within these ancient walls? 13 00:01:33,180 --> 00:01:41,219 The Alhambra of Granada has, over centuries, stirred artists, musicians, writers and poets 14 00:01:41,219 --> 00:01:46,280 due to its mystery and potential for fantasy. 15 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:53,859 The halls, instead of being naked and unfurnished, were set out with divans and ottomans of the 16 00:01:53,859 --> 00:02:01,719 rarest stuffs, embroidered with pearls and studded with precious gems. 17 00:02:01,719 --> 00:02:12,819 And all the fountains in the courts and gardens were playing. 18 00:02:12,819 --> 00:02:18,199 After the Christian conquest at the end of the 15th century, the architectural complex 19 00:02:18,199 --> 00:02:24,919 saw additions and changes made by the conquerors to conform to their tastes and needs. 20 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,759 Construction of the Palace of Charles V was started, while churches and monasteries were 21 00:02:29,759 --> 00:02:33,379 erected within the fortress walls. 22 00:02:33,379 --> 00:02:41,169 the atmosphere and life within the Palace Citadel took on a new tone. 23 00:02:41,169 --> 00:02:47,169 I see in imagination the Catholic sovereigns prostrating themselves before the altar 24 00:02:47,169 --> 00:02:50,169 and pouring forth thanks for their victory, 25 00:02:50,169 --> 00:02:57,169 while the vaults resounded with sacred minstrelsy and deep-toned te Deum. 26 00:02:57,169 --> 00:03:03,400 What makes an architectural space come to life 27 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,400 doesn't only lie in the beauty of what it is, 28 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,400 but also in the potential of what it could be. 29 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,400 When a fleeting shadow across a crumbling brick wall 30 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,400 or the sound of footsteps against a stone floor 31 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,400 inspires a thought, an image, a scene. 32 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,990 The court of lions was thronged with guards 33 00:03:26,990 --> 00:03:29,990 and courtiers and alphachies 34 00:03:29,990 --> 00:03:32,990 as in the old time of the Moors. 35 00:03:32,990 --> 00:03:36,990 And at the upper end, in the saloon of judgement, 36 00:03:36,990 --> 00:03:41,990 sat Boabdil on his throne, surrounded by his court 37 00:03:42,789 --> 00:03:48,900 and swaying a shadowy sector for the night. 38 00:03:48,900 --> 00:03:52,939 Myths, fables, and legends have for centuries 39 00:03:52,939 --> 00:03:55,860 been born out of the ancient stones of the Alhambra, 40 00:03:56,819 --> 00:04:01,280 and the Moorish culture, which has faded away over time, 41 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,639 is remembered through what the architecture 42 00:04:03,639 --> 00:04:06,740 that they left behind continues to inspire.