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- Hall Two Sister
Brief description of the monument
The room of the Two Sisters presents a central space of square plant, with function of mexuar or room of the council of visires, covered with dome of mocárabes on octagonal drum, flanked by three lateral rooms, and in the background the viewpoint of Lindaraja is opened, as a throne room, from which, because the gardens with its fountain were open over Granada before the reforms of Emperor Charles V, the sultan could contemplate the capital of the sultanate.
Monument history
Although perhaps we can think that the name of this room comes from some legend or fact occurred in it, the name of this room is due to two large marble marble slabs that are located on the floor of the room. This room was the center of a series of rooms that served as residence for the Sultana and her royal family, and it is known that Boabdil's mother lived here with her children, after being repudiated by Muley Hacén.
The room of the Two Sisters was built by Muhammad V during the first part of his reign (between 1354 and 1358) and has the function of a new mexuar of the Sultan, whose throne is located in the viewpoint of Daraxa or Lindaraja. This mexuar of the room of two Sisters had representative and apparatus function, since a second mexuar with administrative functions, which was attached, has disappeared. At this time (1362) the rest of the palace of Lions had not been built, nor the courtyard nor the other rooms, which had to be built after 1363.
The room is square, with loop ceilings and alcoves that connect with the Rooms of Carlos V and, through a balcony, with the Jardines del Partal. The entrance to the room is made through a scalloped semicircular arch, which preserves the original wooden doors. Through a passage we can reach the upper rooms, with carved ceilings in the 16th century. The viewpoint chamber is accessed through three small arches, with mocarabes in the side arches and carved baskets in the center. Through its windows we can have a view of the Patio de los Leones.
The floor of the room, marble, has a small fountain with spout and a gutter that leads the water to the courtyard of the Lions. The most impressive element of the room, for its beauty and perfection, is the dome of morarabes that we find on its ceiling, in which the lighting has been perfectly studied, through the opening of side windows, turning the dome into a beautiful flower of an exquisite richness, which Ibn Zamrak already left collected by means of a poem from which we can find a fragment on a tile sockets, with metal iridescence. The walls of the room are covered with fine plasterwork with various themes, among which we can find both the classic Nasrid motto "Only God is the winner" and, for example, closed hands.