Cuarto Dorado

Palace in Granada

Ceiling Of Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada 23 — CC BY-SA 3.0 / AdriPozuelo

Ceiling Of Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada — CC BY-SA 3.0 / AdriPozuelo

Ceiling Of Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada 1 — CC BY-SA 2.0 / Avinash Bhat

Ceiling Of Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada 3 — CC BY-SA 4.0 / Shesmax

Arabesque, Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada — CC BY-SA 3.0 / Javierbl 90

Arabesque, Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada 1 — CC BY-SA 1.0 / Jebulon

Arabesque, Cuarto Dorado, La Alhambra, Granada 2 — CC BY-SA 2.0 / michael clarke stuff

Patio Del Cuarto Dorado, Alhambra — CC BY-SA 24.0 / Shesmax

The Cuarto Dorado or Golden Room is one of the rooms of the Palacio del Mexuar. The Palacio del Mexuar is one of the palaces that make up the Palacio Nazaríes in the Alhambra Complex, in Granada, Spain.

What to see in the Cuarto Dorado

On the front wall of the room, we find a balcony divided by a column with a Christian capital under a frieze of muqarnas. The capital is decorated with the same royal emblems. Christian reforms modified the appearance of the room by closing the side windows and transforming the central window into a viewpoint with opposite seats and curious capitals, the result of miscegenation cultural of Mudejar art.

The original decoration of the Cuarto Dorado is due to Muhammad V. It was named for the beautiful wooden roof that covers it, repainted and decorated, as well as the entire room. It is also called the Gilded Room as the room was gilded with gold leaf in Christian times.

This room was to be used by the administrators and secretaries of the Muslim court to record and execute the Sultan’s sentences. This room was used in Arab times for meetings of the Court of Justice and as a reception for ambassadors, so it would serve as a link between the public palace (Mexuar) and the official palace ( Comares Palace ).

The upper floor of the room, also modified, housed the Empress Elizabeth of Portugal in the summer of 1526, and later the Governors and Wardens of the Alhambra.

Beneath the room runs the round passageway used by the Palacios security guard. Originally it was on the wall, in the open sky, but the transformations and extensions of the palaces in the 14th century left it hidden, as did the original structure of this sector of the Alhambra.

The Entrance to the Cuarto Dorado

A portico lies to the north of the courtyard, behind the characteristic three arches on columns with marble capitals from the 12th century, lies the entrance to the Golden room. The entrance has a scalloped arch doorway crowned by two small windows with lattices, it is centered between two smaller doors, which also lead into the room.

In the north west of the portico, a little arch connects with the Sala del Mexuar.