Project

The Alhambra was begun in the mid-thirteenth-century under Muhammad ibn al Ahmar, Emir of Granada, to serve as the palace and fortress complex of the Moorish Nasrid dynasty. It was completed a century later during the reign of Yusuf I. The Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim dynasty on the Iberian Peninsula to capitulate in the Catholic Reconquista, in 1492. (...)

The Alhambra was begun in the mid-thirteenth-century under Muhammad ibn al Ahmar, Emir of Granada, to serve as the palace and fortress complex of the Moorish Nasrid dynasty. It was completed a century later during the reign of Yusuf I. The Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim dynasty on the Iberian Peninsula to capitulate in the Catholic Reconquista, in 1492. Although modifications took place after the Nasrid dynasty’s departure, including the construction of a palace for Holy Roman Emperor Charles V within the complex in 1527 and the construction of a church on the site of the royal mosque, much of the Alhambra retains its Moorish character. It is the most important surviving remnant of the period of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula (711–1492). It was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1984 due to its universal beauty and exceptional expression of Moorish and Andalusian culture as well as for its ability to convey the history of the changes to the region over time through its architecture and decorative campaigns.

The Oratorio del Partal was built during the reign of Sultan Yusuf I (1333-1354) as a chapel. Along with the Partal Arab houses on the opposite side of the portico as well as the House of Astasio, they form a group of buildings originally associated with the running of the Palace of the Partal, an important section of the Alhambra complex. From this set of auxiliary buildings, according to its use and considering its rich ornamentation, the oratorio is a building of greatest significance.