Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;es;Mon01;16;ar
Library Location
Granada, Spain
Notes
The schools were centers of higher education that would provide original training for future administrators, jurists, and judges; Its building consisted of a courtyard overlooking the rooms of professors and students, as well as a room designated for teaching and group prayer. The Granada School is distinguished, in addition to its intrinsic artistic value, by the fact that it is the only Spanish-Islamic school that has survived to us. This Nasrid building was abandoned in 1500 by the Catholic Monarchs, who left in it the memory of the conquest of Granada in an inscription, to become the “House of the Priests” (Casa del Cabildo); Before it was destroyed in the 18th century, except for the prayer hall. The facade is in the Corgieresque style; The courtyard is small and simple enough, just like the staircase, where a slab indicates the date of rebuilding. The “Hall of the Priests” remains distinctive, with a Mudejar coffered ceiling, furnished with geometric interlacing and two pairs of strings. Opposite the courtyard is a square hall with a side length of 6.84 metres, which is the only remaining part of the Nasrid building. There are delicate corner curves with stalactites that ensure the transition, so that the design then becomes octagonal. In each of the eight spaces that result from it, there is an arch above it with muqarnas and surrounded by an alfiz with inscriptional decoration in Naskh script. At the top, 16 full-circular windows rise above a wider frieze decorated with geometric lattices. Above the latter is a muqarnas frieze and an octagonal wooden ceiling decorated with geometric stars, closed by a dome of muqarnas above 16 windows with connected wooden joists. The simplicity of the materials used - clay, gypsum and wood - contrasts with the decorative abundance in which we find all the decorators' experiences gathered within an imaginative splendor, combining abstraction with Kufic writing, Naskh script and muqarnas. In the sixteenth century, the Arab building, which constituted one of the most beautiful buildings in Granada, was still intact; The entrance gate was made of finely carved white marble, of which some pieces remain that were used as tiles to pave the courtyard, which are currently preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Granada. This gate had a horseshoe arch, a Qur’anic inscription on the alpheus, a lintel covered with decoration and surrounded by other words, and two panels at the top in the form of windows bearing inscriptions in praise of Jalal al-Ilm and Abhijajusuf I, as well as the date of completion of the works. In the courtyard was found a fountain in which it was possible to read one of Granada's most beautiful poems, but it is so long that it cannot be included, except for the beginning: “If you are lucky and see what is inside this house built to be a shelter for science, strength for the Most High, and a shrine for the coming centuries, you will see that it was founded on two qualities: steadfastness in justice and piety.” After that, honor and righteousness are praised. On the façade, a hidden amulet appears, designated with the ability to bestow revealed knowledge.
Sample Text
Ángela Franco “Palace of the Madrasa” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;16;ar
