Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

This fortress-palace beside the Guadalquivir served as a residence of Christian kings and later the base from which the conquest of Granada was planned. Its towers and battlements enclose terraced gardens laid out with long pools and fountains in the Moorish tradition. Roman mosaics found in the city are displayed in its halls. A distinctive detail is the sequence of reflecting pools flanked by cypresses and orange trees, whose geometry echoes the Islamic gardens that once covered much of the surrounding city.