Talk:Alhambra

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Contents

[edit] Err

Sorry, but are those really the best photos we can get of the Al-Hambra? No offence, but it really doens't show you enough of the interior. --Irishpunktom\talk 21:49, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC)


I have a pretty good selection of photos of the Alhambra (and Generalife) from my trip there in 2002. I offer them under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license. You can use any of them that you like for this article, and they can be found here. --Prwood 04:25, 24 February 2006 (UTC)


i have just visited the Alhambra (march 2007) and i bought a book explaining the history of it. (This book was bought in Granada) In the book, it says that the name is derived from the same word in Arabic meaning red, but the red comes from the top layer of oxidised soil which is red (i saw it!). the name of the book is The Alhambra and Granada in focus. Please research this.--Aixoise21 13:04, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I've always been told that the lion fountain was a gift from the jews in the city. It says in various places that it is a rare example of Islamic Animal statues, and that it was probably made by Christians as Muslims believe that it is idoltry... I don't think that either of those is correct in this case.

[edit] Requested move

  • This article should be called Alhambra, not The Alhambra. In Spanish it receives the definite article, but if this were an integral part of the name it would have been left untranslated. The begining of the name is, in fact, the Arabic definite article anyway. The definite article may have been put there to distinguish it from other Alhambras. However, that is what Alhambra (disambiguation) is for. A notice at the top of this article already points users there if this is not what they are looking for. --Gareth Hughes 14:19, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation and sign your vote with ~~~~
  • Support Gareth Hughes 14:19, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  • Support the reasoning above. Jonathunder 05:43, 2005 Apr 24 (UTC)
  • Oppose The Alhambra is never ever referred to just as "Alhambra" in English. We should use the normal English name - which in this case includes the definite article, jguk 22:42, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
What is being proposed is not to remove the word the when it occurs before Alhambra in running text but to remove it from the title because The is not part of the name itself. Consider how the United Kingdom is listed. The word the is almost always in front of it in text, but The is not a part of the article title itself. Jonathunder 00:31, 2005 Apr 25 (UTC)
  • Support The naming convention is this case comes down to "is the "The" normally capitalised in running text?" (As there's no "title of 'works'" or "official name" consideration here.) Evidently it's not -- witness the article itself. Alai 23:50, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  • Support, for reasons given by Gareth Hughes. -- Uppland 21:17, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
  • Support Both WorldBook and Britannica list just Alhambra; though in commentary it is almost always referred to using the definite article. Standard practice indicates article should be listed simply as "Alhambra." - Quartermaster 18:42, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

This article has been renamed as the result of a move request. violet/riga (t) 21:29, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Objectivity and hearsay?

I removed some adjectives that were blatantly subjective, and I think perhaps we should open a discussion on the objectivity of some of the other statements in this article.

Also, does anybody know of a trustworthy source that verifies the story about Napoleon's "crippled soldier" story, under the history section? It sounds a lot like hearsay.

  • The information appear on few sites as well i.e. 1 2 3, but i never came across it before; anyone has a source? Thank you --NEWUSER|CARPEDIEM (talk) 06:17, May 22, 2005 (UTC)

Much of the information here seems to be faulty and not backed up by in-depth research. I removed several passages referring to the often-repeated yet not entirely accurate statement that Islam forbids the depiction of humans and animals. In fact, in addition to the famous lions there are several paintings in the Alhambra that clearly depict humans (frescoes in the Torre de las Damas in the Partal Palace and paintings on stretched leather on the alcove ceilings in the Sala de los Reyes in the Riyad Palace, or Court of the Lions). It should also be noted that almost all of the names used in this article are not original designations. Rather, they are post-conquest Spanish names (many of which were based on Arabic corruptions and misunderstandings) or more fanciful names applied by foreign travelers during the Romantic Period.83.43.234.5 12:25, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

If it's not true, it's certainly widely believed, and of course the Alhambra contains a monument to the crippled soldier in the form of a large plaque just outside the Alcazaba. Flapdragon 16:31, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Patio lions as a clock

The twelve lions functioned as a clock with water flowing from a different lion each hour. The Christians of the Reconquest took apart the clock to see how it worked and it hasn't worked since.

Can we have some references for this intriguing but unlikely-sounding idea? A brief search turned up only one not very authoritative reference. If it was widely accepted as fact I feel it would be more widely mentioned. Flapdragon 16:26, 12 December 2005 (UTC) hello

[edit] Arabic name

As far as my basic Arabic goes, "الحمراء" means "the red", just a definite article and an adjective. It does not specify any noun -- a castle, a cat or whatever. So I'd translate that as "the red one", or something like that.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 150.214.36.10 (talk • contribs) 18:34, 20 June 2007.

Indeed, but the whole name of the fortress was القلعة الحمراء. That means "The Red Fortress". --Garcilaso 17:37, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV & Peacock terms

I just reverted two edits by 86.129.108.118, one of which added a grammatical error that was previously corrected back into the article and both of which put peacock terms back into the article. If, after reviewing the edits I reverted, anyone feels that this was unjust, please discuss it here, rather than edit warring. Thanks. Ketsuekigata (talk) 01:29, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edits by User:Rafmad

Beautiful and poetic writing works marvelously in brochures, travelogues and descriptive books. Here on Wikipedia, the writing style should be more objective and factual. Sentences like "the Nasrids sought to immortalize themselves through a work of beauty that seems to exist in some dream world as much as it does in this one" are completely unsupportable via external references. How can anyone today know what the Nasrids were thinking? Binksternet (talk) 19:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Only one sentence (the one quotated by Blinksternet) of the edit by Rafmad is poetical and empty, the rest is valious information, and improves the poor section about the historical context of Alhambra consttruction. I restore it. --Garcilaso (talk) 15:08, 7 April 2008 (UTC)