Hall of the Boat

From the northern gallery of the Court of the Myrtles (Patio de los Arrayanes) through a pointed arch of mocarabes, visitors may enter into the Hall of the Boat (Sala de la Barca). The origin of its name is the Arabic word baraka, which means blessing and which degenerated into the Spanish word barca, which means boat. This rectangular hall is 24 meters long and 4.35 meters wide, but was apparently smaller at the beginning and later extended by Mohammed V. A semicylindrical vault was destroyed by a fire in 1890 and it was replaced by a copy completed in 1964. On the walls you will see plasterwork with the Nasrid coat of arms and, inside it, the word «Blessing» and the dynasty's motto «Only God is Victor».

The hall is surrounded by a skirting board and there are bedchambers with tile skirting boards covering the columns that hold canted festooned arches of mocarabes and scallops.