Daraxa's Garden

Daraxa's Garden (Jardines de Daraxa) was also called Garden of the Orange Trees (Jardín de los Naranjos) and Garden of the Marbles (Jardín de los Mármoles). It was constructed between 1526 and 1538, as the same time as the Emperor's Chambers (Habitaciones de Carlos V), in the garden that already existed between the fortress and the ramparts. The patio is demarcated by Daraxa's Mirador (Mirador de Daraxa) and the Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas) to the south, by the Emperor's Chambers (Habitaciones de Carlos V) to the north and by the galleries built by the Emperor to the east and the west. 

In the garden there are cypresses, acacias, orange trees and box bushes surrounding the big central marble fountain. The fountain's border is decorated with a poem, like the fountain of the Patio of the Lions (Patio de los Leones), and it was made in 1626 with the big basin that was in the Patio of the Gilded Room (Patio del Cuarto Dorado). 

To the south of the patio, there were the basements of the Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas), which form a series of rooms surrounding the Hall of the Secrets (Sala de los Secretos). This hall is so called because if two people stand in opposite corners of the room and one of them speaks quietly towards the corner, the person in the opposite side will hear the words perfectly well. This is possible thanks to the acoustics provided by the special vault.