Alhambra rule of Al Andalus, reduced to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra integrates natural site qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Moorish culture in Spain and the skills of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era. The literal translation of Alhambra, "the red (female)," reflects the color of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed;
Moorish Castle to the sea. The most conspicuous remaining parts of the Castle are the upper tower, or Tower of Homage, together with various terraces and battlements below it, and the massive Gate House, with its cupola roof. The Tower of Homage is the highest tower of the period of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Qasbah of the Castle is the largest in the area. The Castle itself played a prominent part in the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, with Muslim forces overrunning a large portion of it in two years - an invasion which led to Islamic