The Museo de La Alhambra offers visitors a unique opportunity to see some of the Alhambra’s artistic and architectural objects and to understand the culture which created them.
This museum is located in the southern wing of the ground floor of the Palacio de Carlos V and consists of seven rooms. The first room is arranged thematically and the rest chronologically.
When the Alhambra palaces were inhabited by the Catholic Kings, their structure and decorations were protected and enjoyed from the very first moment by the new court. Throughout the centuries, many objects and architectural remains were used to decorate rooms in different areas of the complex. Later the conservation teams put them together with other findings from excavations in the Alhambra.
The sheer quantity and quality of the objects in this museum make it the best existing collection of Hispano-Moorish art, in particular Nasrid art.
PERMANENT COLLECTION
The permanent collection is an extraordinary and comprehensive journey through the evolution of Hispano-Moorish art. The variety and the chronological breadth of the objects give visitors a deep understanding of the richness and complexity of Islamic culture and society in the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time, visitors can understand the framework of everyday life at the time. The exhibition began to take on the role of a museum in the mid-19th century, when it began to catalogue and exhibit objects in different parts of the Alhambra.
By 1870 the objects were systematically being catalogued, putting some on display in the rooms of the Emperor and others in the Palacio de Leones and the Palacio de Comares. One of the most interesting artefacts is the gazelle vase – a fine example of Hispano-Moorish pottery. Also of great interest are the set of architectural features made of marble (including pillars, carved decorative panels and plasterwork) and the decorated wood features, especially the finely carved ceilings.
How to get here: Bus C30 y C32
