Flavours of Spain
The Alhambra - Part 6
The Christian Rooms and the Palace of Charles V
Charles never visited to watch the progress of his new palace, so the rooms were never used and remain unfurnished. The author Washington Irving lived in some of them in 1829.
The Palace of Charles V was designed as a massive Renaissance building, and as a symbol of the power and status of the new Catholic rulers of Spain. The bottom is made of massive beviled stones. The upper part is dressed stone. There are medallions above the windows and carved friezes along the front with scenes from the Battle of Pavia, when the armies of Charles V had crushed the French army.
It is built round a magnificent circular courtyard with two tiers of columns.
Work started in 1527 but money ran out in 1637 leaving the palace uncompleted. It was never lived in as the court had moved to Madrid. It was finally finished in the mid C20th. It now houses two museums - the Museum of the Alhambra with a collection of Nasrid and Mudejar Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, with work from the C17-C20th.