The Nasrid dynasty completed the Palace of the Lions in 1391 with a courtyard fountain resting on twelve marble lions, each carved from a single block and positioned to mark the hours. That hydraulic clock no longer functions, but the engineering beneath the Alhambra — eleven kilometers of underground channels drawing snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada — still feeds every fountain, pool, and garden on the hilltop. What began as a ninth-century alcazaba grew over six centuries into a 142,000-square-meter complex of palaces, gardens, and military quarters. The Nasrid Palaces, built between 1238 and 1391, represent the final flourish of Moorish architecture in Western Europe before the Catholic Monarchs took Granada in 1492. Inside the Comares Palace, the Throne Room's cedar ceiling contains more than 8,000 individual pieces arranged to mirror the seven heavens of Islamic cosmology. The Hall of the Abencerrajes retains its muqarnas dome — a honeycomb of sculpted stucco that transforms flat geometry into suspended stalactites of light and shadow. Preservation protocols limit daily capacity to 6,600 visitors, with Nasrid Palaces access restricted to 300 visitors per half-hour window. The conservation fee of €22.27 funds ongoing restoration of the stucco panels, many of which suffered centuries of whitewash applied after the Reconquista. Recent work in the Hall of the Two Sisters revealed polychrome pigments beneath the lime — traces of lapis lazuli blue and vermillion red that once covered the walls. The Generalife, the sultan's summer estate, lies across the Ravine of Rey Chico. Its terraced gardens predate the palaces by a century and demonstrate Nasrid hydraulic mastery: the Patio de la Acequia channels water through a central canal flanked by 28 fountain jets, each pressure-calibrated to arc at identical heights. The Alhambra and Nasrid Palaces ticket with audioguide allows self-directed exploration of these circuits, with narration keyed to 150 numbered stations across the complex. October through March, when daily hours contract and visitor density drops, the Court of the Myrtles reflects the Comares Tower in still water undisturbed by midday crowds.