And here we are the Alcazaba, which is an Arab words which means walled fortification in a city....
It was originally built in the 11th century and was more a ´castle´than Gibralfaro (which apparently was more a military garrison of sorts) where the Muslim rulers lived and held court, etc.
It was restored in the 1930´s and 1940´s....
This was the part that I was VERY glad about....AN ELEVATOR! Wahoo! No more walking up the hill for me! Zip-zup and I was up!
This is the corridor to the elevator...it looked so intimidating :)
Door way with arches....all of these things have been restored. I´ll show you later what I was told was original....
I LOVE Arab-Muslim art, decor and ability to use so many shapes, etc. to make a place beautiful....very nice....
Looking out over the city, westwards....
Looking south towards the harbor.....
I don´t know what this is for...but it reminded me of the places where verses of the Torah are placed outside an Orthodox Jew´s home....
There she be! What a lady!
Restored designs on the ceiling....
This was a ´living room´of sorts - the ceiling design....
Purdy....
Ok, so this pillar.....THIS PILLAR....IS ORIGINAL! :) Everything else is new or restored, but this pillar is original!
Close-up of the pillar....
And the ´pool´of a fountain....the pieces closest to you and furthest away are ORIGINAL!! The others are restored and that IS IT as far as original pieces are concerned! Disappointing, but still...those tile pieces are probably over 600 years old!
Beautiful!
Ok, I lied, this indentation shows ORIGINAL floor pieces as well! But honestly, apparently that is it as far a original goes...
Click on the photo and look at the flooring....OLD stuff!
Beautiful!
At sunset....beautiful....
Beautiful garden inside the Alcazaba...
Cool arches, etc....
Fountain, and that is the sunset shining through the passage way to the right....
This is the inside wall...I just thought it was interesting to see the different stones, how they were mason´d in, etc...
Beautiful.....
Same passage way from the outside....
Hi Mom! Just picture ´Golden Afternoon´from Álice in Wonderland´with the flowers singing...they´re singing to you! :)
Yet another garden. It just is amazing to me. The Arabs were absolutely barbaric in conquering, especially Africa (they get mad if people say that). It really was ´join Islam or die!´, but then they were also able to make these people things...amazing....
(Of course one could say that probably about any culture, i.e. ability to kill and torture, but then create a beautiful, artistic culture....weird, eh?)
This the exit to the next level, but first, let´s go see the fortress walls....
DUH, DUH, DUHHHHH! How impressive and intimidating!
Hi Mom! This flower says ´por favor Patrizia, ven aca para que puedas ver a Malaga!´
Looking up the pathway that connected Gibralfaro with the Alcazaba....it´s cloed to the public, no walking up and down it....
Looking westwards over the fortress walls....WOW!
This is the Arch of Christ, i.e. exit-entrance to the next level of defenses.... (so glad I don´t live in a time where that is what kept me alive! UGH!)
And enter into another paradise....
The exit-outside portions of the Alcazaba! The people who restored this...wow, what a work!
Thank you Alcazaba for a wonderful time!
And as mentioned, at the feet of the Alcazaba (in 1951) they found this Roman theater from Augustus´time. AMAZING that ALL of this HISTORY is in ONE PLACE! AHHH! I LOVE IT!
I hadn´t even planned this, but I was hungry after walking around all day and stopped in at a Moroccan restaurant. I had tried Moroccan food a few times in London and found it to be good, this dish Crock Pot Meat with Plums was DELISCIOUS, and a wonderful end to our tour of what was Árab´Malaga!
