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In one courtyard, we came across a wedding party.

We lined up at the appointed time for the daytime tour and wandered on cobblestone streets to graceful stone archways, past flower-bordered paths and into the endless intricacy of Moorish rooms covered in jewel-toned tiles. Thanks to Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, when we went to a bank that sells tickets to the Alhambra, Ken and I bought tickets for both the daytime tour and the evening tour. “…clothing naked realities with the illusions of the memory and the imagination,” as he puts it. In his book, Tales of the Alhambra, which describes time that he spent in the wonderful building that dominates Granada Spain, he weaves stories that take place in daylight shadows and others that slink through the dark. Washington Irving knew the evocative power of moonlight. The light peoples the walls of the Alhambra with romantic ghosts.

Moonlight illuminates tile walls and stone lions that are more than 600 years old. Fantasy, history and folklore come together in this beautiful collection Special Edition This special edition of Tales of the Alhambra comes with a concise guidebook to Granada and the Al Hambra Palace.Book: Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving Reflecting pool in the Alhambra The folk tales, told in Irving's inimitable, witty style, usually deal with romantic elopements, or buried treasure, or both. Irving lived in thel old Moorish palace at a time when it was a neglected ruin, and his wonderful descriptions, interspersed with the folk-tales that he collected from the people of Granada, helped to spark interest in repairing and restoring the monument.

Irving is best remembered in this country for his collections of American folklore, like the stories of Rip Van Winkle and the Headless Horseman, but in Spain they remember him for the Alhambra stories. Tales of the Alhambra is must-reading for the traveler in Spain and the best souvenir of your visit.

The work of the Reconquista, as it is called, came to an end with the fall of Granada and the Alhambra Palace. Islamic rule, though fragmented, extended over the bulk of Iberia for centuries, even as Christian warlords, pushing south, chipped away at Muslim territory.