The Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo is a former

Nasrid The Nasrid dynasty ( ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; ) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the foun ...

palace and

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is located in the Realejo quarter of the city.

History

The original construction of the palace is believed to date from the reign of Muhammad II (ruled 1273–1302) and a recent dendrochronological study has dated the wooden ceiling to after 1283. This makes it one of the earliest surviving palace structures built by the Nasrid dynasty. It was originally known as the ("House of the Great Wooden Wheel") or ("Garden of the Great Wooden Wheel"). Located on the edge of the city walls, it was used as a royal country estate residence by the Nasrid dynasty, probably for short visits. Its style shows similarities to later Nasrid buildings and to other buildings built under the

Zayyanids The Zayyanid dynasty or Ziyanids (, ''Ziyāniyyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids (, ''Bānu ʿAbd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of Tlemcen in northwest Algeria. The ...

and

Marinids The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...

in North Africa in the same period, suggesting that the same craftsmen may have worked for different patrons across the region. After the

conquest of Granada The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of G ...

by the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

in 1492, the palace became part of the Dominican convent of Santa Cruz and the main hall became known as the Royal Hall of Santo Domingo (''Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo''). At one time it was occupied by Tomás de Torquemada, the first

Grand Inquisitor Grand Inquisitor (, literally ''Inquisitor General'' or ''General Inquisitor'') was the highest-ranked official of the Inquisition. The title usually refers to the inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, in charge of appeals and cases of aristoc ...

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

. The structure was declared a

site of Cultural Interest Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website, a set of related web pages, typically ...

in 1919. Since 1990 it has been owned by the city of Granada. It was then restored under the direction of Antonio Almagro Gorbea and Antonio Orihuela.

Architecture

The structure today consists mainly of a large square hall, measuring approximately 6 meters per side. The hall overlooks the ''Plaza de los Campos'' below on the southwest and is built on top of a

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

tower which was formerly part of the city walls. The tower itself was enlarged in order to serve as foundation for the hall. The walls protected the ''Alfareros'' ("

Potters A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas * Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

") suburb of the city, now corresponding to the Realejo neighbourhood. The palace was thus built on the edge of the city and was essentially a country estate, originally of much larger size than what remains today. The estate and its gardens would have been enclosed by their own walls to preserve the privacy of its royal owners. The main hall is flanked by three side chambers and alcoves on either side. This layout is very similar to the original layout of the

Alcázar Genil The Alcázar Genil is a Muslim-era palace in the city of Granada, Spain. It was originally called ''al-Qasr al-Sayyid'' ("the palace of the lord") and is located beside the River Genil outside the city walls. Today, only a pavilion of the palace ...

, a nearby Nasrid country estate to the southwest. The hall is richly decorated, with ''

zellij Zellij (), also spelled zillij or zellige, is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various patterns on the basis of tessellations, ...

'' tiles along the lower walls, the upper walls covered with carved

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

, and a large pyramidal and coffered wooden ceiling with geometric motifs. The back wall is pierced by three large windows, set into deep alcoves within the thick walls, starting at ground level. The windows would have offered an uninterrupted view over the Genil River. All these decorative features were subsequently standard in Andalusi and

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

i architecture across the region, demonstrating that many of the architectural traditions of the era were already established by this point. The design of the hall, including its integration into an existing defensive tower, is also reminiscent of the larger and later Hall of the Ambassadors in the

Comares Palace The Court of the Myrtles () is the central part of the Comares Palace () inside the Alhambra palace complex in Granada, Spain. It is located east of the Mexuar and west of the Court of the Lions, Palace of the Lions. It was begun by the Nasrid sul ...

of the Alhambra. The main hall was originally fronted on the outside by a five-arched

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, but this was dismantled in the 19th century. In the middle of this portico was a small floor fountain whose water trickled into a large octagonal pool in front of the portico, unlike later Nasrid palaces which featured a large rectangular pool. Excavations have revealed that the rest of the space in front of the building was occupied by a large rectangular garden, divided symmetrically in two by a central walkway. The flowerbeds on either side were planted with myrtles and

orange trees Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

. File:Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo DSCF6299.jpg, The main hall, looking from the entrance towards the back File:Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo DSCF6325.jpg, One of the sides of the main hall, with its three alcoves or side rooms File:Techumbre del Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo (Granada).jpg, Wooden ceiling of the main hall File:Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo, Granada. Elementos decorativos.jpg, Details of decoration in the main hall: carved stucco above and ''

'' tiles below File:Mosaico Cuarto Real.JPG, Decoration of the entrance archway: ''

muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...

'' carved in

(above), with mosaic

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

work (below) featuring

calligraphic Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

inscriptions and motifs

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Granada Palaces in Andalusia Nasrid architecture