The Tower of the Princesses (Torre de las Infantas) is a small palace inside which there is a reference to know how Arab aristocratic dwellings were. In the 16th century this tower was called Ruiz y Quintarnaya's Tower (Torre de Ruiz y Quintarnaya), for this was its inhabitant's name. Since the 17th century it has received this new name because of the legend by Washington Irving about the princesses Zaida, Zoraida and Zorahaida.
The palace-tower is located on the eastern ramparts, between the Tower of the Captive (Torre de la Cautiva) and the Tower of the End of the Street (Torre del Cabo de la Carrera). It is a two-floor building, with the moat and the walk by the ramparts, the access to which is possible through a passageway. The passageway has a unique dome of mocarabes that was painted to give the impression of being brick. The passageway leads to a rectangular central hall that has a veranda on the shorter sides and above this hall there is a lantern covered by mocarabes. Around this central hall there are three lateral narrow rectangular chambers with windows to the outside. The chamber that is parallel to the ramparts is the biggest of the three and has two festooned arches that connect the chamber with some bedchambers.
This tower's decoration is the most modern of the Alhambra and it is a sign of the decline of the Nasrid art, which had only «poor and repetitive» elements, according to Torres Balbás.
We use our own and third-party cookies in order to offer our services, display videos, obtain statistics and offer personalized advertising.
For more information, please read our cookies policy.