Mexuar

The Alhambra was a palace complex and citadel begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada.

[13] He also built or converted existing towers along the northern walls of the Alhambra to serve new purposes, including the Torre de Machuca in the Mexuar's second courtyard.

[15] After the 1492 conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, the Alhambra was converted into a royal palace of Christian Spain.

Some of the Christian features added to the Council Hall for its conversion to a chapel were removed during modern restorations, to recover some of the chamber's original appearance.

According to Ibn al-Khatib's writings, these chambers were used by the sultan's secretaries, which means it was likely here that official documents and records were written and kept.

The largest room, on the south side, was likely what Ibn al-Khatib referred to as the Qubbat al-'Ard and may have contained the Dīwān al-Ins͟hā', or Chancery.

Only the northern portico, which was used as a stable after the Christian conquest, has survived to the present day, after being restored by Leopoldo Torres Balbás in 1926.

On the north side of the courtyard, behind the portico, is the Torre de Machuca, one of the fortification towers on the Alhambra's northern wall.

Sultan Yusuf I converted this tower into the Bahw an-Naṣr ('Mirador of Victory' in Arabic), a square chamber with windows.

As the room is too small to hold many people, it's likely that during receptions the sultan sat here by himself while his courtiers stood along the portico in front and public guests were received in the courtyard.

[26][27]To the east of the Bahw an-Naṣr, and accessible from it, is a private passage that leads to a small oratory on the northeastern edge of the courtyard.

This was a private prayer room for the sultan, equipped with a mihrab and with double-arched windows offering views onto the landscape and the city below, similar to the oratory of the Partal Palace.

During restorations to the Alhambra between 1868 and 1889 the oratory was incorporated into the Sala del Mexuar by knocking down a part of the wall to create a doorway between them.

The floor of the oratory was also lowered from its original level to accommodate this connection – as evidenced by the elevated ledge below the windows and at the base of the mihrab.

It was also accessible directly from the Patio de Machuca and from the western door of the Comares Façade in the Cuarto Dorado courtyard.

[33] The walls of this back area are decorated with mosaic tilework (zellij) that was reused and brought here from other parts of the palace.

The emblems visible today include the Nasrid motto (Arabic: ولا غالب إلا الله, lit.

[35] The entrance passage to the courtyard may have been narrow in order make it easier for guards to control who entered this space.

[28] At the end of the 15th century, after the Christian conquest, the north portico was partially obscured by the addition of a large horseshoe arch in front of it, which was dismantled in 1965.

Likewise, an upper-floor wooden gallery and upper chambers were added at some point after this before eventually being dismantled in the early 20th century.

[37][38] A barred opening in the east wall next to the portico provides light to an underground passage that was used by Nasrid guards to move around the palace.

The Cuarto Dorado hall behind the portico is accessible through three decorated archways, of which the central one is again larger than the others and surmounted by two windows.

In 1499, after the Christian conquest, this ceiling was painted and gilded with ornamental motifs by Juan Caxto and Jorge Fernández, which gave the hall its current name.

[15] The carved stucco includes an Arabic inscription featuring a poem by Ibn Zamrak (d. 1393) and the Throne Verse of the Qur'an (2:255), which may indicate that this area was sometimes used by the sultan to hold audiences or other ceremonies.

Above these is a muqarnas cornice that precedes a wide wooden eave, which in turn would have sheltered the seat of the sultan at the top of the courtyard steps.