The Fountain of Lindaraja

Visiting hours: Every Saturday of May, at 12 a.m.
Place: Room VII, Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles the V.
Although the best known fountain of the Alhambra is the fountain of the Court of the Lions, there is an additional one worth noting, unique for its beauty and epigraphic text: the Fountain of Lindaraja. As its name indicates (‘ayn dar ‘A’isa, that is, ‘the fountain of Aisha’s house’), this fountain was placed in the Garden of Lindaraja in 1626 from where it became part of the collection of the Museum of the Alhambra.
The special feature of the fountain lays in the poem, embossed and that decorates its upper edge. It is a poem of twenty verses whose author is considered as one of the main poets in the Palaces of the Alhambra, that is, Ibn Zamrak (1333-1394). Unlike the poem of the Fountain of the Lions, whose beginning is known, researchers do not agree on the initial part of this particular poem. What can be confirmed is that it has some very interesting verses as they are self-descriptive and since is the voice of the architectural element itself speaking on which they were carved. Thus, we can read in the text that no equal can be found of such a fountain, with its shell-like shape, and with such a constant flow of water. Regarding this last remark, it is to be noted that the fountain presents five and a half of all scalloped curves without carving.
The guided tour will aim at bringing the history of the fountain closer to those interested in it, as well as its purpose and relevance, and to make known its inscription and translation.