The Alhambra. [New York]

The Alhambra is a book by the American writer of the period of romanticism Washington Irving, a collection of short stories, essays and travel notes dedicated to the famous Moorish palace in Granada - the Alhambra and its history. The collection, built according to the method of “describing the journey,” so beloved by romantic writers, begins with a story about the author's trip to Spain, a description of his arrival in Granada and a story about local residents-contemporaries; interspersed with essays on local customs and festivities. Also, the collection is generously diluted with inserted short stories - Moorish and Spanish legends and fairy tales. Irving is fascinated by the image of Islamic architecture and the shadows of the pre-Christian past of the Alhambra, he describes its magical beauty and romantic, due to an abandoned state, ruins. "Alhambra" refers to the second stage of the writer's work and expresses his romantic aspirations to the maximum extent.