Tales of the Alhambra Tales of the Alhambra Tales of the Alhambra is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving. Shortly after completing a biography of Christopher Columbus in 1828, Washington Irving travelled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain. At first sight, he described it as "a most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest landscapes that I have ever seen." Irving was preparing a book called "A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada", a history of the years 1478–1492, and was continuing his research on the topic. He immediately asked the then-governor
Alhambra through the citadel via a complex system of conduits ("acequia") and water tanks ("los albercones") which create the celebrated interplay of light, sound and surface. Alhambra is about in length by at its greatest width. It extends from west-northwest to east-southeast and covers an area of about or 35 acres. The Alhambra's most westerly feature is the Alcazaba (citadel), a strongly fortified position built to protect the original post-Roman districts of "Iliberri", now 'Centro', and "Gárnata al-yahūd" ('Granada of the Jews', now "Realejo", and the Moorish suburb of "El Albayzín". Due to touristic demand, modern access runs contrary to the