Jardín de Los Adarves

Gardens in Granada

The Jardín de Los Adarves or Garden of Adarves are are gardens located at the entrance of the Alcazaba, in the Alhambra Complex in Granada, Spain. Tidy shrubs and flower beds, fountains with spouts and stone piles attached to the walls, give the Adarves a sober classicist style. The garden also holds, magnolios, orange trees, rose bushes, jasmines or palm trees, some which are taller than the walls of the Alcazaba.

What can I see  in the Jardín de Los Adarves?

The Jardín de Los Adarves is one of the places from which you can admire one of the most beautiful landscapes of Granada city. There is a mirador, or viewing platform on the western end of the garden, below which you can see the defensive wall that links to the Puerta de las Granadas and the Torres Bermejas.

In addition to lush vegetation full of color, two water troughs with water spouts were built at either ends of the adarve. There is evidence that the eastern water trough, which stands below the Torre del Adarguero, was erected in 1628. The pillar has a relief of marine figures of whose mouths spout water pipes. The western trough is located below the Torre de la Sultana. The pillars are made of stone and white marble for decorative elements.

There is a stone plaque, to a poem written by Francisco A. de Icazam, is placed on an exterior wall of the Powder Tower at the west end of the Garden of the Adarves. The poem was composed when he saw a blind beggar playing the guitar in Granada. The poem is as follows: Give alms, woman, That there is nothing in life Like the pain of being, Blind in Granada.

Where does the Jardín de Los Adarves get its name?

An Adarve, in military architecture is a parapet walk, or a path at the top of the walls of a fortification. It comes from from Arabic ad-darb- means path behind the parapet and on top of a fortification. It is usually located on top of a wall, usually behind the battlements; in the most modern fortifications, it was located on the embankment that was behind the parapet and surrounded the place. It is also known as the Garden of the Ramparts. Although the gardens are not like the narrow and austere adarves that usually adorn castles.

How do I get into the Jardín de Los Adarves?

Access to the Jardín de Los Adarves is reached by entering next to the Torre de la Pólvora, from which the Torre de la Vela is accessed.

History of the Jardín de Los Adarves

The adarve was originally an artillery platform, in about 1628, the time the threat from the Moors was minimal so the ruler of the Alhambra,  the fifth Marquis of Mondejar, Íñigo López de Mendoza,  created the Adarves Garden. During the changes made by Carlos V and Felipe II to the rest of the Alhambra the gardens were not dramatically changed.

The Legend of Jardín de Los Adarves

Legend has it that at that time some porcelain vases filled with gold were found, hidden by the last Muslim inhabitants of the Alhambra , and the marquis dedicated part of that gold to form the garden adorning it with fountains.

The Jardín de Los Adarves appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Granada!

Other names of Jardín de Los Adarves

The Jardín de Los Adarves has the following names: Jardín de Los Adarves, Garden of Adarves, Garden of the Ramparts.

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Visiting Jardín de Los Adarves

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