Gardens of spain

story and photos by Gail murray

Central courtyard of Palacio de las Duenas, Seville.

Recently, Gail Murray was part of a tour of gardens in Spain led by Master Gardener Donna Dawson and Johnathan Lord. Here are some highlight from the first three days in Granada, Cordoba and Seville.

Granada

I’ve dreamed of the Alhambra since Spanish class in high school. Granada’s Alhambra Palace, last stronghold of Moorish rule, remains an outstanding example of medieval architecture, a testament to the role of nature in everyday life of Islam. The Iberian Peninsula flourished under Muslim rule for 800 years—their influence runs deep.

According to Islamic tradition, the courtyard depicts the Quran’s symbol of paradise. The Alhambra’s fountains and reflecting pools provide solace. The Courtyard of the Lions, with its twelve marble lions representing royalty and power, stands as a focal point and respite in the sultan’s private dwellings.

Gail Murray on her Spanish garden tour.

I climbed terraced slopes on walkways paved with a mosaic of river pebbles, passing cypress hedges, velvet roses, lemon, orange and pomegranate trees and was entranced as we reached the Generalife, the sultan’s summer palace and retreat. The Courtyard of the Cypress is the best preserved medieval Persian garden in Europe. Inside the complex, The Water Garden Courtyard—a long pool framed by flowerbeds and colonnades—delights with its tinkling fountains.

Cordoba

In Cordoba, wandering the stately formal gardens of the Alcazar, I can imagine the reprieve Queen Isabel found as she read among palms, fountains, and neatly trimmed boxwood.

At the Mezquita or Great Mosque, a UNESCO world heritage site, I learn that the concept of a mosque originated

Palacio de los Viana, Cordoba.

Courtyard of Lemons, Palacio de las Duenas, Seville. Alcazar Palace Gardens, Cordoba.

Palacio de Portocarrero, Cordoba.

as Mohammed and his followers met for prayer under date palms to protect them from the scorching sun. The forest of columns strikes me as the most striking feature of this sacred place. For three centuries the Great Mosque of Cordoba held a place of importance amongst the Islamic community of al-Andalus. It is from al-Andalus that Spain’s southern region takes its name Andalusia.

A courtyard, fundamental to any mosque, functions as a place for ritual purification. At the Mezquita, the Courtyard of the Orange Trees with its palms, orange trees and bubbling fountain, not only serves this purpose but an aesthetic one.

The Moors ruled much of the Iberian Peninsula from 711 CE to 1492, during the Reconquista. It was their custom to carry a small bit of nature. From this ancient belief sprang the potted plant. In Cordoba bright blue pots with colorful plants climb whitewashed city walls creating vertical ‘gardens in the sky’. In a central square I come upon a whimsical sculpture of a young woman painstakingly watering each individual pot.

The megaron in ancient Greece and the atrium in Rome were open courtyards within the house serving as a place to socialize and enjoy intimate family space. The key elements, both

Maria Luisa Park, Seville.

Cypress Court, Alhambra, Grendada. then and today, include clay pots, vines, fruit trees, wrought iron grates, ceramic tile and a water feature. Water offers a visual and aural oasis in torrid summer.

The Palacio de los Viana, home to many noble families between the 15th and 20th centuries, remains a private residence with a dozen unique patio gardens open to the public. Some stunning plant material found in their designs are scented jasmine, pink oleander, blue plumbago and lemon and pomegranate trees.

Seville

Bougainvillea covered Palacio de las Duenas, palatial home of the Duchess of Alba, recently opened in 2016 after her passing. Today it is a museum with exquisite Mudejar patios. Lavishly furnished rooms decorated with fine art, antiques, marble sculptures, and Flemish tapestries surround a huge central courtyard. Smaller courtyards, a total of six, run off the grand central courtyard with its palms, roses, boxwood allees and giant kapok tree.

In 1875 celebrated Spanish poet Antonio Machado was born at las Duenas. Along with lemon trees, Mudejar tile and an erotic statue of Venus in the Courtyard of Lemons stands a plaque I am drawn to. This plaque honors Machado with lines familiar to every Sevillano:

My childhood memories are of a patio in Seville

And a bright orchard where a lemon tree ripens.

Maria Luisa Park in Seville supplies a welcome greenspace acting as lungs for this thriving city of 705,000. It reminds me of Central Park in New York. The area is designed in Moorish paradisiacal style with ponds, fountains, lush plantings, Mediterranean pines, stylized flower beds and hidden vine-covered bowers. Not only is the park a botanical garden but home to doves, ducks, swans and parakeets. The statue of poet Bécquer and the octagonal fountains of lions and comical frogs spouting water provide interest and entertainment.

The Plaza de Espana, built for the 1929 Spanish American Exhibition, is a brilliant landmark in the North West area of Maria Luisa Park. Venetian foot bridges with bright blue azulejotiled handrails cross canals and colorful balustrades depict a historical scene from each province. d