Editing Alhambra (section)

=== Church of Santa Maria and the Alhambra Mosque ===
[[File:Iglesia de Santa María de la Alhambra.jpg|thumb|Exterior of the Church of Santa Maria de la Alhambra]]
Located just east of the Palace of Charles V is the Catholic Church of ''Santa María de la Alhambra'' ('Saint Mary of the Alhambra'), which stands on the site of the former Alhambra Mosque, the congregational mosque of the Alhambra complex. The church was built between 1581 and 1618.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=213}} It is under the authority of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Granada|Archbishop of Granada]].<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |title=St. Mary Church |url=https://www.alhambra-patronato.es/en/edificios-lugares/st-mary-church |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife |language=en-US |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519030701/https://www.alhambra-patronato.es/en/edificios-lugares/st-mary-church |url-status=live }}</ref> The building was designed by architects Juan de Herrera and Juan de Orea and completed by Ambrosio Vico. Inside is a large Baroque [[altarpiece]] with gilded ornate columns completed in 1671, although the most impressive centrepiece of the altar, a sculpture of [[Our Lady of Sorrows]] (depicting [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] holding the body of [[Jesus]]), was carved between 1750 and 1760 by Torcuato Ruiz del Peral.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=213}} Every year during [[Holy Week in Spain|Holy Week]], this sculpture is taken out and carried in a procession through the streets of Granada. During processions it is carried on top of a "throne" or platform that is sculpted to resemble the arcades in the Court of the Lions.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=213}}<ref name=":14" />

Little remains of the Alhambra Mosque which stood previously on this site, aside from an ornate bronze lamp now preserved at the [[National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)|National Archaeological Museum]] in [[Madrid]]. According to an inscription on this lamp and to the writings of Ibn al-Khatib, the mosque was commissioned by Muhammad III and completed in 1305.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=210–211}}{{Sfn|Irwin|2004|p=57}} The mosque's main axis was aligned towards the ''[[qibla]]'' to the southeast, which also matched the alignment of the main street next to it. The structure consisted of a hypostyle hall with three "naves" separated by rows of three arches. The arches were supported by marble columns with capitals similar in style to those of the earlier Cordoban Caliphate period in the 10th century. The roof was made of wood and the central nave, which led to the mihrab, had a higher ceiling than the two side naves. A slender [[minaret]] stood at the western end of the building.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=210–211}} After the Christian conquest, the building was converted to a church but by the late 16th century it was in disrepair. It was finally demolished in 1576, prior to the construction of the present church.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=210–211}}

==== Baths of the mosque ====
[[File:Baños de Comares. 19 September 2016.JPG|thumb|Interior of the baths ([[hammam]]) that stood near the Alhambra Mosque]]
One of the Alhambra Mosque's annexes, the baths (hammam), has been preserved on the east side of the church today and is accessible from the main street. Like other Islamic baths, it provided general hygiene to the local residents as well as the means to perform the ritual ablutions (''[[ghusl]]'') for religious purposes.{{Sfn|Irwin|2004|p=46}} Although sometimes eroticized in [[Romanticism|Romantic]] western literature, visitors attended the baths strictly with members of the same sex and wore cloths or towels around their private parts.{{Sfn|Irwin|2004|p=46}} These baths were constructed under Muhammad III along with the mosque. They may have been partly demolished in 1534 before being incorporated into a residential house during the 17th and 18th centuries. The preserved remains were significant enough to enable their restoration and reconstruction in 1934.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=213–215}}

The layout of the baths had a typical sequence of rooms, including a [[Apodyterium|changing room]] (''bayt al-maslak͟h'' in Arabic), a [[Frigidarium|cold room]] (''bayt al-barid''), and a [[Caldarium|hot room]] (''bayt al-sak͟hun'').{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=213–215}} Behind the hot room there would have been a boiler room where water was heated and firewood stored nearby. Original fragments of tile and stucco decoration, as well as part of the marble flooring, have been preserved in some of the rooms. The hot room has one small pool and another may have existed where a modern fountain stands today.{{Sfn|López|2011|pp=213–215}} However, unlike in Christian and earlier [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman culture]], Muslims generally did not favour swimming or immersion in water for their visits to the baths.{{Sfn|Irwin|2004|pp=40, 46}}<ref name="Sibley">{{cite journal |last=Sibley |first=Magda |title=The Historic Hammams of Damascus and Fez: Lessons of Sustainability and Future Developments |journal=The 23rd Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture}}</ref> Private baths, of varying size and importance, were also built as part of the Alhambra's palaces.{{Sfn|López|2011|p=}}<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |last=Fournier |first=Caroline |url=https://books.openedition.org/pur/44617 |title=Les Bains d'al-Andalus: VIIIe-XVe siècle |series=Histoire |publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes |year=2016 |location=Rennes |isbn=9782753555457 |access-date=11 February 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211224032/https://books.openedition.org/pur/44617 |url-status=live }}</ref>