In Granada, In The Upper Albaicín, A Restored Carmen Centred Around Three Courtyards, With Its

In Granada, in the upper Albaicín, a restored carmen centred around three courtyards, with its 16th-century ceiling and views of the Alhambra. In 1526, the Venetian ambassador Andrea Navagero marvelled at the Moorish houses tucked away in the gardens of the hills of Granada, each with its own water, fountains, rose bushes and myrtle trees. The carmen, whose name derives from the Arabic word ‘karm’, meaning ‘vineyard’, is the heir to this garden civilisation that emerged under the Nasrids. This particular carmen offers a remarkably authentic example of it. Its restoration revealed, beneath a false ceiling that had protected it, a 16th-century wooden ceiling on which traces of polychrome decoration remain, and it has preserved the ancient cistern that collected water. The house unfolds in the sequence typical of the houses of the Albaicín. A first courtyard with a fountain leads to the rooms through its ancient doors. A second courtyard, now a garden, lies in the shade of a lemon tree. A third, more secluded courtyard leads to the cellar. Six bedrooms, two sitting rooms, a library and a bookbinding workshop share the light here, beneath wooden ceilings crafted using traditional techniques. From the roof, the view extends to the Generalife and the Alhambra, as if to remind us of the history to which the house belongs. Whether a family home, a collector’s retreat or a scholar’s abode, it asks to be lived in with the same care that has restored it to its former self.