<P> Moorish poets described it as "a pearl set in emeralds," an allusion to the colour of its buildings and the woods around them . The palace complex was designed with the mountainous site in mind and many forms of technology were considered . The park (Alameda de la Alhambra), which is overgrown with wildflowers and grass in the spring, was planted by the Moors with roses, oranges, and myrtles; its most characteristic feature, however, is the dense wood of English elms brought by the Duke of Wellington in 1812 . The park has a multitude of nightingales and is usually filled with the sound of running water from several fountains and cascades . These are supplied through a conduit 8 km (5.0 mi) long, which is connected with the Darro at the monastery of Jesus del Valle above Granada . </P> <P> Despite long neglect, willful vandalism, and some ill - judged restoration, the Alhambra endures as an atypical example of Muslim art in its final European stages, relatively uninfluenced by the direct Byzantine influences found in the Mezquita of Córdoba . The majority of the palace buildings are quadrangular in plan, with all the rooms opening on to a central court, and the whole reached its present size simply by the gradual addition of new quadrangles, designed on the same principle, though varying in dimensions, and connected with each other by smaller rooms and passages . Alhambra was extended by the different Muslim rulers who lived in the complex . However, each new section that was added followed the consistent theme of "paradise on earth". Column arcades, fountains with running water, and reflecting pools were used to add to the aesthetic and functional complexity . In every case, the exterior was left plain and austere . Sun and wind were freely admitted . Blue, red, and a golden yellow, all somewhat faded through lapse of time and exposure, are the colors chiefly employed . </P> <P> The decoration consists for the upper part of the walls, as a rule, of Arabic inscriptions--mostly poems by Ibn Zamrak and others praising the palace--that are manipulated into geometrical patterns with vegetal background set onto an arabesque setting ("Ataurique"). Much of this ornament is carved stucco (plaster) rather than stone . Tile mosaics ("alicatado"), with complicated mathematical patterns ("tracería", most precisely "lacería"), are largely used as panelling for the lower part . Similar designs are displayed on wooden ceilings (Alfarje). Muqarnas are the main elements for vaulting with stucco, and some of the most accomplished dome examples of this kind are in the Court of the Lions halls . The palace complex is designed in the Nasrid style, the last blooming of Islamic Art in the Iberian Peninsula, that had a great influence on the Maghreb to the present day, and on contemporary Mudejar Art, which is characteristic of western elements reinterpreted into Islamic forms and widely popular during the Reconquista in Spain . </P> <P> Completed towards the end of Muslim rule of Spain by Yusuf I (1333--1353) and Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada (1353--1391), the Alhambra is a reflection of the culture of the last centuries of the Moorish rule of Al Andalus, reduced to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada . It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus . The Alhambra integrates natural site qualities with constructed structures and gardens, and is a testament to Moorish culture in Spain and the skills of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian artisans, craftsmen, and builders of their era . </P>

The builders of the alhambra used muqarnas to