Space of October 2011: Camino de Ronda (Parapet Walk)

The Alhambra is surrounded by a wall that made it impregnable to any attack and that connected it with the general city wall of Granada. Four principal gates (of Arms, Arrabal, Justice and the Seven Floors) open this wall and more than thirty towers are spread along it, some of them served as dwellings, others as strategic points in the complicated defensive system. Along the inside face of the wall there was a parapet walk that was connecting the different areas and was serving, in case of siege, as protective moats.

At the stretch in the northeast of the wall, following the walk of the towers, we find one of the best examples to understand how the defensive structure of the fortress works: The Parapet Walk in the stretch between the Tower of the Pointed Embattlements and that of the one at the end of the street. This walk which in the beginning was passing parallel to the entire wall in its interior face was conceived to quickly arrive to some point at the wall where an attack was taking place, reinforcing the defense in this area. The same as the Adarve, which was serving as guard walk in the upper part of the wall, this walk passed under a bridge, which in some places becomes a real tunnel.

At present, the Parapet Walk is interrupted and lost by alterations that started already in the Middle Age, which makes it impossible in several sectors to recognize its design. The stretch that now is opened to public visit as Space of the month perhaps is the most complete one for the elements that form part of it. It has been much damaged during the passage of the centuries after the Christian conquest, and the wall even was partially demolished by the French troops before their retreat.

The Patronato de la Alhambra y el Generalife aims at recovering this Walk in all the stretches that still remain, beginning with the most complete and representative one.

Outstanding elements: It constitutes one of the best examples to understand how the defensive structure of the Alhambra works.

Timetable: Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sundays, from 8:30 to 20:00 hours, to October 14 2010, and from 8:30 to 18:00 hours, from October 15 2010 to October 31 2010.

Entrance: with the general admission ticket for the Monumental Complex of the Alhambra.

Capacity: maximum 30 persons simultaneously.

Source: Patronato de la Alhambra

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