13 h 34 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
An old palace holds poor families, haunted towers, and stories of treasure beneath its faded splendor.
In The Alhambra, Washington Irving takes you from the road to Granada into the rooms of its old Moorish palace. He lives there as a guest, among soldiers and poor families. With the proud guide Mateo Ximenes and the household of Dame Antonia, he discovers daily life within walls once home to rulers.
Palace sketches mingle with legends gathered from guides, neighbors, and old chronicles. In the Legend of the Arabian Astrologer, King Aben Habuz seeks safety from his enemies. In the Moor's Legacy, the poor water carrier Peregil is drawn toward hidden treasure. Around these tales, Irving explores courts, fountains, and towers with humor and affection.
What you’ll discover
- The road to Granada Ride across wild Andalusia with Irving, his companion, a guide, and an armed escort.
- Life behind palace walls Meet Dame Antonia and Dolores, whose modest household brings warmth to the old royal rooms.
- Stone lions and fountains Wander through the Court of the Lions, where slender columns frame a striking fountain.
- Enchantment and human weakness Discover astrologers, enchanted princesses, and buried treasure in tales told with gentle humor.
- Beauty under time's shadow See how a half-ruined palace prompts Irving to reflect on passing power and beauty.
Who will love it
Readers who love places with a past, armchair travelers, fans of Moorish history, and anyone who enjoys a warm, humorous legend of buried gold and enchanted princesses.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Good humor opens the road
- A guide gives stone a voice
- The palace becomes a temporary home
- Beauty grows from learning and care
- A familiar legend can mislead
- Ordinary lives animate the palace
- Hidden gold reveals human motives
- Love slips past guarded walls
- The palace holds many living voices
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Alhambra
by Washington Irving · 1832
A traveler is lent a Moorish king's rooms in Granada and fills them with ghosts, guides and legends of buried gold.
Challenging5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Imagine being handed the keys to a royal palace. A traveler climbs the hill above Granada, calls on the governor, and learns that the apartments of the last Moorish king are his, if he can strike a bargain with the housekeeper.
The Alhambra at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 50 min6 h 15 min fast, 9 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 111,800 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1832by Washington Irving
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The road to Granada runs through robber country
Irving opens with the journey, not the palace. He and a friend ride from Seville to Granada through mountains where crosses by the road mark murders. They hire horses and a cheerful young guide, and they nickname him Sancho, after the squire of Don Quixote.
Sancho is full of proverbs, and his saddlebags seem to refill themselves. The road offers a parade of types: a boastful patrol commander, an old shepherd who spins a tale of buried Moorish gold, and swaggering smugglers at Loxa.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1832
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Irving, Washington. The Alhambra. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-alhambra.
Irving, W. (2026). The Alhambra. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-alhambra (Original work published 1832)
Irving, Washington. The Alhambra. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-alhambra.
@book{irving2026alhambra,
author = {Irving, Washington},
title = {The Alhambra},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-alhambra},
note = {First published 1832}
}
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What is The Alhambra by Washington Irving about?
It is a travel memoir about Irving's stay in the Alhambra palace in Granada in 1829. It describes the journey there, the people who live in the fortress, Moorish history and a set of legends about treasure, love and ghosts.
Are the stories in The Alhambra true?
The travel scenes and the portraits of Mateo, Dolores and Tia Antonia come from real experience, and the history comes from chronicles. The legends are local folk tales that Irving gathered and shaped, and he treats them as tales rather than facts.
Who is Mateo Ximenes in The Alhambra?
Mateo is a poor, talkative resident of the fortress who calls himself a son of the Alhambra. He becomes Irving's guide and squire, and he supplies many of the legends he learned from his grandfather, the tailor.
The author
Washington Irving
1783–1859 · American writer and historian
Washington Irving (1783–1859) was an American writer, historian and diplomat. He was born in New York City and died in Tarrytown, New York. He also lived in Britain and Spain. He published The Sketch Book in 1819–1820 and The Alhambra in 1832. He served as American minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
More by Washington Irving
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