The Court of the Water Channel
A long walk with facing jets arcing over a central channel — the gardens' famous scene.
No, it is included in the full Alhambra ticket. There is sometimes a cheaper gardens-only ticket without the Nasrid Palaces, a reasonable fallback if no palace slot is available — though the Alhambra without the palaces is an incomplete experience.
Jannat al-Arif in Arabic — the garden of the architect or overseer. The Spanish "Generalife" is a corruption of that Arabic phrase, as with many place names in Andalusia.
An hour covers the main gardens and the water channel court. Add half an hour to walk the lower terraces and sit for the view. Fit it in before or after your Nasrid Palaces slot.
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The Generalife was the summer garden of Granada's rulers, on the hill facing the Alhambra and reached by a short walk. It was built in the fourteenth century as a retreat from the formality of the palace, with orchards and farmland around it that supplied the court. The whole idea rests on water. Channels, fountains and pools everywhere, water running constantly and heard before it is seen. Its best-known part is the Court of the Water Channel: a long walk with facing jets arcing over a central channel, framed by roses and myrtle. Entry is included in the Alhambra ticket. From here there is an excellent view back to the palaces and across to the old Albaicín quarter.
A long walk with facing jets arcing over a central channel — the gardens' famous scene.
A stair with water running down its stone handrails — a seven-century-old idea still working.
The whole Alhambra seen from opposite — the best place to grasp the scale of the complex.
Planted terraces below the gardens, a reminder that this was a working farm for the court, not only ornament.
Alhambra complex, 18009 Granada