French intended to blow up this Tower--the holes made by the sappers yet remain--but the procrastination of their agents saved the building. From this postern, a path, crossing the ravine, leads up to the _Generalife_.
The whole interior of this gigantic Tower is occupied by the Hall of the Ambassadors which is described _supra_.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE INFANTAS TOWER.]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE INFANTAS TOWER (CEILING).]
[Illustration: SECTION ON THE LINE C. D. OF PLAN.
SECTIONS AND PLANS OF THE INFANTAS TOWER.]
[Illustration: ROOM IN THE TORRE DEL CAUTIVO, OR CAPTIVE’S TOWER.]
[Illustration: THE HOMAGE TOWER, ANCIENT ARAB RUINS IN THE ALCAZÁBA.]
[Illustration: GRANADA, FROM THE HOMAGE TOWER.]
[Illustration: TORRE DE LA AQUA--TOWER OF THE AQUEDUCT.]
[Illustration: DETAIL OF THE ONLY ANCIENT “JALOUSIE” REMAINING IN THE ALHAMBRA.]
Here, an inscription records, the Christian flag was first hoisted by the Cardinal Mendoza and his brother. The panorama from the roof of this Tower is glorious. Below, lies Granada, belted with plantations; beyond, expands the Vega, guarded like an Eden by a wall of mountains. It is a scene for painters to sketch and for poets to describe.
The _Torre de la Vela_ is so called, because on this _watch-tower_ hangs a silver-tongued bell, which is heard on a still night even at Loja, thirty miles away. The bell is rung on 2nd January, the anniversary of the surrender of Granada. Maidens come on this day to strike the bell, which act ensures a
husband, and of excellence in proportion to the noise made, which, it need not be said, is considerable and continuous.
TORRE DE LAS INFANTAS--TOWER OF THE INFANTAS.
On the north-east wall of the fortress are several towers partly in ruin, which retain traces of beautiful decorations in the interior. The _Torre del Cautivo_ and the _Torre de las Infantas_ are the best preserved. They appear to have formed detached habitations complete in themselves; and from their position in this retired part of the fortress, and the extreme beauty of the internal decorations, there can be little doubt that they were isolated residences of favourite Sultanás.
The Homage Tower rises at the end of the _Pelota_, or Fives, Court, the wall of which much disfigures the Place of the Cisterns. In this Homage Tower is a Roman votive altar, embedded by the Moors in the masonry, inscribed by “the grateful Valerius to his most indulgent wife, Cornelia.”