19.11. To Granada
A green ocean of olive trees stretched across the golden Andalusian fields. Desert-like rocks stood in the sky, vividly imposing themselves above the plains. Now the terrain is hilly, and the green-olive ocean has no end. White villages in the valleys, white villages on the slopes of steep hills. Sharp rocks rise above, reaching into the dry blue sky. No cloud in sight, the sun has burned them all. The day is quiet, but the silence strings the guitar of Flamenco. Flames arise from her eyes and smoke from the footsteps. Life is waiting for the sunset to start.
20.11. In Alhambra
Hordes of tourists are storming the magnificent Nasrid Palaces, arguably the focal point of Alhambra’s UNESCO World Heritage site. In a nutshell, Alhambra is an incredible complex of Palaces, gardens, Baths, towers, fortresses, and numerous fountains. Built during the height of the Islamic rule over the Iberian Peninsula, the sultans of the time didn’t hesitate to spend a fortune to demonstrate their power. The world’s most renowned artists and architects were invited to recreate heaven on Earth.
I looked at the absolute architectural perfection of the gardens while the audio guide reincarnated the speech of a sultan. With a thunder-like voice, the sultan, after mentioning God in the beginning as a pure formality, goes on glorifying his own name and power. I wondered, had the sultans built these architectural wonders and covered them with overwhelming artistic beauty in the name of God or in the name of their ego? Both the description of God’s omnipotence and their own supremacy had a terrifying and threatful tone, and one might think that, subtly, as to do so openly would be heretical, they tried to elevate themselves as close as possible to God’s image.
Just like the pharaohs of Egypt, the sultans of Al Andaluz tried to inscribe their names into eternity. They might have inscribed themselves into the history books, and their names might exist as long as the civilization will. They are dead, and they have no eyes to observe people marveling at the work they ordered architects and artists to do. A question came to me: “Would they like what they see from the heavens? Hordes of ordinary people, not really understanding what they are looking at, storming through palaces chasing the best place to take a photo of themselves and letting out smelly farts in glorious towers (it really happened). If they could see it, would they watch in disgust as their heritage was generalized and open to the ordinary public? Maybe some of the sultans would know this is how the Earth spins, and not having their egos insulted, would be able to see another perspective – their contribution to the history of humankind is recognized on a global scale, and known in every corner of Earth. The scientific and artistic heights of their time are marveled at daily by thousands of people from every ethnicity they could have imagined, and more. It might be that their motives were a mixture of wishes to celebrate God, their civilization, and their names