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APPROACH TO THE ALHAMBRA Photograph by Harlow D. Higinbotham
desecrated by the hand of conqueror or revolutionist. The fair, pious, gentle Isabella and her wise consort for almost four hundred years have slept peacefully in the midst of the city from which their armies had so gloriously driven forth the Saracen. Although now boasting four centuries of Christian rule, Granada is still dominated by the citadel of her moslem monarchs. The mention of the name "Granada" still evokes visions of Oriental splendor, visions of fairy palaces and giant towers, visions of that far-off age when Spain was yet a part of the Islamic Empire. Who can say "Granada" without hearing the word echoed back with another sound,—"Alhambra"? Our first vision of the Moorish palace is not, however, one to wake enthusiasm. We see only some crumbling towers, all devoid of beauty, perched on the flank of a densely wooded height, and guarding a collection of unattractive little structures and a huge square mass of heavy masonry,—the unfinished, roofless palace of that royal vandal, Charles the Fifth, to whom posterity owes a debt of deepest hatred for his many ruthless profanations of the beautiful. Below us are the houses of Granada looking humbly up at the Alhambra Hill; far in the background rise the snowy crests of the Sierra, while if we change our post
