The Generalife is the villa with gardens inhabited by the Nasrid kings of Granada as a resting place, located in the Spanish city of Granada, in Andalusia. It was conceived as a rural village, where ornamental gardens, orchards and architecture were integrated, in the vicinity of the Alhambra.
The origin of the name is disputed. Some advocate Yannat al-Arif as "the architect's garden," or "the architect's garden," although it may have meant "the highest garden." This royal garden was common in the Spanish-Arab courts and is the result of the reforms and additions that the different sultans contributed to it.
Due to its oldest decorative elements, the palace must have been built at the end of the 13th century by the second sultan of the Nasrid dynasty, Muhammad II (1273-1302).
It was declared, along with the Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
The Generalife is located outside the walls of the Alhambra, to the east, on the slope of Cerro del Sol. Recreational estate of the Nasrid sultans but also used for its agricultural exploitation. In the medieval period it had at least four orchards and the residence is a palace that the vizier Ibn al-Yayyab called the Royal House of Happiness.
It is in the Nasrid Arabic style and is located on the northern side of the Alhambra. At the time of its construction, it was located outside the perimeter of Muslim Granada, and lacked direct communication with the Alhambra, its main access was the Aikabia Ravine road, the current Cuesta de los Chinos, which rose from the Darro River.
It is made up of a set of buildings, patios and gardens, which make it one of the greatest attractions of the city of Granada, and, together with the Alhambra, one of the most remarkable architectural ensembles of Muslim civil architecture. From the outside, you can see two pavilions located to the north and south, and connected by a patio traversed by the water course, the two pavilions are very renovated.
The first movement of the impressionist work Nights in the gardens of Spain (1909-1915) by Manuel de Falla is set in the Generalife.
Paco de Lucía has a work inspired by the Generalife called "Generalife under the moon."