Restauración de los Jardines del Partal

The Partal Gardens form one of the most tranquil corners of the Alhambra in Granada — a sweeping, terraced green space stretching between the Nasrid Palaces and the Generalife. Today they're best known for their cascading flower beds and reflecting pools framing the Tower of the Ladies, but this layout is the result of a thorough twentieth-century redesign rather than a surviving medieval garden plan.

Where did today's gardens come from?

The land now occupied by the Partal Gardens once surrounded the Partal Palace, the oldest surviving palace within the Alhambra complex, built by the Nasrid emir Muhammad III in the early fourteenth century. Unlike the neighboring Court of the Myrtles or the Palace of the Lions, which remained in the hands of Spanish monarchs after the conquest of Granada in 1492, the Partal passed into private ownership and was remodeled over the centuries as a private residence. It wasn't until 1891 that Arthur von Gwinner, the German banker who owned the property, ceded it to the Spanish state, opening the way for its scientific study and eventual restoration.

How was the Jardín Escalonado created?

At the start of the twentieth century, the area around the palace was largely neglected and lacked any coherent garden structure. That changed thanks to Leopoldo Torres Balbás, the Alhambra's long-serving conservation architect, who in 1924 designed the Jardín Escalonado del Partal — the distinctive stepped garden that descends the hillside in tiers. Its construction unfolded through the 1920s and 1930s, running alongside extensive archaeological excavations of this part of the hill.

Why did archaeology and gardening go hand in hand?

The pairing was deliberate. Before the terraces were planted and laid out, excavators needed to understand what lay beneath the ground — remnants of earlier Nasrid-era structures, foundations, and the water infrastructure typical of Islamic palace gardens. The groundwork carried out while establishing the garden brought these traces to light and folded them into the new design rather than erasing them, so the Partal Gardens double as both an ornamental space and a record of the site's layered history.

What should visitors look for?

Walking through the Partal Gardens, it's worth noting the terraces stepping down toward the old defensive walls, the geometric planting beds, and the pools and water channels that echo the Nasrid garden tradition, in which water served both practical and symbolic purposes. Rising above one of the pools stands the Tower of the Ladies (Torre de las Damas), the only fully preserved element of the original Partal Palace.

Frequently asked questions

Are the Partal Gardens an original part of the Nasrid palace? Not in their current form. The site and palace date to the early fourteenth century, but the garden layout visitors see today was designed and built only between 1924 and 1930.

Who designed today's garden? Leopoldo Torres Balbás, the conservation architect responsible for the Alhambra's restoration work during that period.

Why wasn't the area a garden before? After passing into private hands, the property functioned as a residence and its surroundings fell into neglect over time; only after the land was ceded to the Spanish state in 1891 could it be properly studied and redeveloped.

What sits next to the gardens? The Nasrid Palaces and the Tower of the Ladies border them directly, with the Generalife gardens further along the wider Alhambra complex.