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Gardens of Moorish Spain

© Kirk Johnson

The main change in the garden is the planting beds, they are now level with the paths, but they were originally 50 centimeters below the paths. Having planting beds below the level of the water made irrigation very easy and it seems to have been a fairly common practice in Moorish gardens.

The plants in the Patio de la Acequia aren't necessarily characteristic of Moorish gardens, it features a Magnolia Grandiflora, which is native to the Southeastern United States, and the roses have been chosen more for display than historical accuracy, but this garden still lets us experience the atmosphere of a real Moorish garden.

The photo above is of the Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions) in Granada's Alhambra. This garden was begun in 1377, during the kaliphate of Muhammad V (1354-9, 1362-91). It looks like the planting beds have recently been restored, because in his book, "Gardens of Paradise", which was published in 1987, John Brookes said that the four plots which are subdivided by the canals had been graveled for many years, but that "recently some authority in its wisdom has replanted them with groundcover, presumably as a deterrent to tourists walking there". The photo above shows a much richer planting than the photo in John Brookes' book. It even looks like the beds may be a bit below the level of the paths, but I doubt if they have been restored to their original depth of of eighty centimeters below the paths; that might force the curators to put railings between the columns to keep visitors from falling into the beds.

Pollen found at the original level indicates that orange trees were originally gown in the beds. This is supported by a document which says that when Philip le Beau visited the garden in 1502, there were still six orange trees in the planting beds. The garden must have felt like you were floating in the clouds above the treetops.

The courtyard measures 38.3 x 15.8 meters, but it seems larger because of the total interpenetration of the courtyard and the architecture of the surrounding arcade. The garden was mainly designed to be viewed by people who were seated on the floor of the arcade. With the planting beds so far below the level of the paths, it is obvious that this garden wasn't really designed for strolling in. I find it very interesting to compare this garden with traditional Japanese gardens. Traditional Japanese homes feature the same level of interpenetration of house and garden and most traditional Japanese gardens weren't designed for strolling in; they are designed to be viewed by someone who is seated on the floor of a house. I am fascinated by the way that two traditions can have so much in common and yet produce gardens which are so different.