The Alhambra is not only the most important, but also the best conserved Arabian palace. The name Alhambra means "the red one" and refers to the color of the mountain, on which it is built. There are two entrances, in the north the Puerta de las Armas and in the south the Puerta de la Justicia, which lead to the first court an the mosque.

Most of the construction of the palace took part under Yusuf the first (1333-1354) and then his son Mohammed the fifth (1354 - 1391). After the re-conquest, the Catholic Monarchs carried out some alterations and Charles the fifth built a Renaissance palace in the centre, which looks clumsy in comparison to the Moorish architecture and rather out of place.

The palaces of the Alhambra; originally built by Ismael I for the juridical administration and later restructured by Muhammad the fifth. Under King Charles V the building was changed to be a Christian chapel. Main attraction is the splendid Golden Room with its Renaissance ceiling. The patio has 124 fine white marble column that are supposed to symbolize palm trees. Water flows in from four directions to the fountain of lions in the centre.

The Palacio de Comares was built by Yusuf I and is an arrangements of rooms around the central Patio de los Arraynes (Courtyard of the Myrtles). The smaller Mexuar Patio has a small washing fountain and the Comares facade, which shows some of the best Nasrite art available. Arabic script, with a repetitive phrase "La gallib illa Allah or There is no victor but God", runs around the stucco walls, along with a beautiful frieze of glazed tiles. The original colouring, which has now faded, was gold (royalty), red (power), green (paradise) and blue (hope of attaining paradise). There is a striking contrast between the ornate interior and plain outside, which was designed to symbolize the concept that inner life, i.e. family and spirituality, provides real wealth.

The dimensions allow to have nine adjoining rooms worked into the walls, which are ornamented with epigraphs from the Koran. Another attraction is the palace's Patio de los Arrayanes a large court with columns of marble and a beautiful central fountain. The Palace of Muhammad V was the private residence of this Moorish king and is another highlight. Four great halls enclose the famous Patio de los Leones, the "lions' court". The figures of lions that carry the fountain is a curiosity in arabian art, as the figurative representation of animals (as well as humans) is forbidden in Islam. Remarkable are as well the verses of poet Ibn Zamrak, which explain the function of the palace's very advanced irrigation plants.

The Hall of the Mozárabes got its name after the Christian architects of the time of the re-conquest from the Moors, which were themselves strongly influenced by Moorish style. In the case of this hall, they changed the original cupola for a baroque ceiling that is based on a central star motif, which is made up of muqarnas prisms, and merges into square-shaped ground plan of the room with the help of hanging Muqarnas spandrels. The Hall of the Abencerrajes got its name from an Arabian noble family, who was murdered in here. In the King's Hall we find paintings of the Arabian royal family. For the reasons mentioned above scientists doubt if those paintings are original or were made, after the re-conquest, by Christians. The most splendid hall is the Sala de las dos Hermanas, ("hall of the two sisters"). The beautifully worked-out ceilings show verses of Ibn Zamrak and are ornamented with gold and lapislazuli.