In 1333 Yusuf I, Sultan of Granada continued the construction, which stood until it was surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs Fernando and Isabel in 1492, the last Muslim foothold in Spain.
It was here, in the same year, that Christopher Columbus received a royal endorsement for his westward expedition.
After many years of neglect and squatters, and after Napoleon’s army had wreaked destruction in pursuit of revenge for their defeat in Spain, restoration began. A wood of English elms was brought to Granada and planted by the Duke of Wellington in 1812.
An earthquake caused further damage in 1821 to the Alhambra, which means ‘the red one’,
The American writer and traveller, Washington Irving, lived in the Alhambra while writing ‘Tales of the Alhambra,’ recounting all the legends associated with the royal palace..
