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The entrance gate into the first courtyard is flanked by original Almohad walls. Note the Gothic and Arabic inscriptions on the interior façade.

Here and in adjacent halls and courts is some of the purest Mudéjar art to be found, commissioned by Alfonso XI of Castile around 1330 and executed by craftsmen from Granada. The star-shaped coffered ceiling and fine plasterwork are quite exquisite.

The secluded Court of Plaster, greatly restored, is one of the few remnants of the 12th-century palace. The delicate stucco work features scalloped arches and is set off by a shady garden with water channels.

The Hunting Courtyard has 14th-century Mudéjar decorative work – a perfect synthesis of differing cultural influences.

These halls are where Fernando and Isabel met with the explorers of the New World.

The Court of the Maidens commemorates the annual tribute of 100 virgins delivered to the Moorish rulers by the Christians. The azulejos (tiles) are fine examples of Granada craftsmanship.

The most brilliant room in the entire Alcázar. Its crowning glory is the dazzling dome of carved, painted and gilded wood , inscribed in Arabic as having been constructed by craftsmen from Toledo and completed in 1366.

The intimate Court of the Dolls was the living room of the palace and is named after two faces carved into the base of one of the arches.

In a refurbished 13th-century Gothic structure built by Alfonso X the Wise, this palace has a rather inharmonious Renaissance styling.

Moorish touches are everywhere among these tranquil pathways and copses. Fountains, pools, lemon and orange groves, palms and hedgerows extend in all directions.