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Mohammed ben Al-Hamar (Mohammed I) was the first king to move to the Alcazaba and no records about a new palace being built are kept until those of Abu l-Walid Ismail. Only the Mexuar is now left because Yusuf I destroyed it completely. He started some improvements in the Comares Tower, the Court of the Myrtles and the Baths. These improvements were finished by Mohammed V, who added them all to the Mexuar, extended the gallery that would later be called Machuca and constructed the Palace of the Lions.
It is difficult to know how the Mexuar was originally built, as the multiple restorations and reconstructions carried out until today do not let us know how its chambers were. The eastern section still survives from the series of chambers located next to the Tower of Mohammed I.That section is now known as «Mexuar».
Located at the back of the Mexuar, was restored in 1917, as it was in a terrible state of repair due to the explosion of a magazine in the valley of the river Darro in 1590.
The Gilded Room is so called because of the painted Mudejar style of its coffered ceiling. It as built by order of Mohammed V and belongs to the Comares Palace.
This small patio between the Mexuar and the Gilded Room.
The Court of the Myrtles has received different names throughout time. Its current name is due to the myrtle bushes that surround the central pond and the bright green colour of which contrasts with the white marble of the patio. It was also called the Patio of the Pond or the Reservoir.
It was the official residence of the king and it comprises several rooms that surrounded the Court of the Myrtles. Some examples are the Hall of the Boat and the Hall of the Ambassadors inside the Comares Tower.
The Comares Tower is the highest tower in the Alhambra. The Hall of the Ambassadors and the Hall of the Boat are located inside the tower. The leyend says that the Council that decided to surrender the city of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs took place inside this tower and the leyend also says that inside this tower, Christopher Columbus convinced the Catholic Monarchs to give their approval to his expeditions to the Indies towards the West.
From the northern gallery of the Court of the Myrtles, visitors may enter into the Hall of the Boat. The origin of its name is the Arabic word "baraka", which means blessing and which degenerated into the Spanish word barca, which means boat.
This is the most majestic hall of the palace, where the throne was and where official receptions took place. According to Fernández-Puertas, the ceiling is a representation of the Seven Heavens of the Islamic Paradise, with God's throne on the eighth heaven. The hall is completely covered by decorative inscriptions: niches, arches, walls and dressing rooms are all covered by poems.