Palace of Charles V

It is a Renaissance building annexed to the Partal and the Nazrid Palaces. Since 1958, it is seat of the Museum of fine arts of Granada.

It was commissioned by King Charles I (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire under the name of Charles V) from his wedding with Isabel of Portugal, held in Seville, in 1526. Following the link, the couple lived several months at the Alhambra, being deeply impressed by the Palace, leaving in charge the construction of the new palace with the intention of establishing residence in the Alhambra in Granada. The Catholic monarchs had already enabled rooms after 1492, but Carlos intended to provide a stable residence tailored to an emperor.

The building was implanted in the heart of the Muslim Alhambra, at one end of the Patio of Arrayanes and for its construction it was necessary to tear down a pavilion opposite the Tower of Comares. This fact, which has been the subject of criticism and controversy, should be understood in the context of its time: the Palace of Charles V did not mean the destruction of part of the Alhambra as the guarantee of the survival of the rest. At a time when most common was the total destruction of palaces and temples of the subject peoples, the sensitivity of the Christian Kings to the undeniable beauty of the Alhambra was the need to enjoy it from within and, therefore, keep it.