Yusuf I of Granada begins building the Alhambra's palaces

1330

The Nasrid emir, ruling the last Muslim toehold in Iberia, expanded his ancestors' hilltop citadel into a hall of fountains and stucco arabesques. The Comares Tower would soon rise over Granada like a bejeweled lantern, its ceiling a wooden cosmos of interlocking stars. Christian armies pressed against the borders even as the palace got more beautiful.