The Caliphate fountain, piece of the month at the Museum of the Alhambra

The chosen piece this month at the Museum of the Alhambra is a fountain basin dating from the Caliphate era. This is one of the most delicate and most unusual exhibits in the permanent collection and can be seen every Saturday from 12:00 in Room II of the Museum on the ground floor of the Palace of Charles V. The specialist Cecilia Puy will be offering a talk describing this piece, a small octagonal fountain basin made of light-coloured sandstone.
Those interested in taking part in this free activity should go to the door of the Museum of the Alhambra five minutes before the beginning of the talk, which is due to start at midday. 
The fountain is unusually small and has no outlet, which suggests that it was designed so that the water would brim over creating a gentle soothing sound, typical of Islamic art.
During the talk, Cecilia Puy will be analysing the functions of the fountain and its links with the Muslim house and furnishings; hygiene, religion, purification, cooling the house in the summer, etc. The decoration of the fountain is closely related to its function, with algae and plants that seem to “sway” in the water and aquatic animals such as tortoises and fish (that also appear in other key exhibits in the Museum). In short, this fascinating piece combines four main elements namely flora, fauna, water and Muslim tradition.
For more information, see www.alhambra-patronato.es