One big Quran
On a recent trip to Granada, Spain I visited the Alhambra, the last and greatest Moorish palace. It attracts about 8,000 people a day and is one of Europe’s top attractions. The jewel of the Alhambra is the Moorish royal palace, the Palacio Nazaries. Built mostly in the 14th century, this palace offers a look at the refined, elegant Moorish civilization of Al-Andalus (Arabic for the Iberian Peninsula).
Throughout the palace, the walls, ceilings, vases, carpets, and tiles are covered with decorative patterns, mostly calligraphy writing out verses of praise from the Quran:
The intricate detail is really amazing and the photos here only give a hint of the scale. It’s one of those sights you have to see in your lifetime.
5 Responses to “One big Quran”
Leave a Reply
nico on October 27th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
That reminds me, everyone go now to the Catharine Clark Gallery to see Sandow Birk’s American Qur’an:
http://www.cclarkgallery.com/dynamic/exhibit_artist.asp?ExhibitID=88&Count=0
It ends soon.
tuscanycat on October 28th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Thanks for the tip nico.
Carlton Hobbs on November 24th, 2009 at 10:29 am
It’s an amazing building. We researched the decorations when studying a table in our collection with a design similar to a wall in an Italian cathedral, both having Moorish influences: http://bit.ly/5a1vLp
tuscanycat on November 25th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
The tile patterns in this region are amazing to look at Carlton. The Orvieto cathedral has a much more restrained design but is nonetheless beautiful.
www.quranreadings.com on December 24th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Thanx for nice pictures