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Study Documents Medieval Islamic Architecture at the Alhambra

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Spain Alhambra CourtyardGRENADA, SPAIN—According to a statement released by the University of Seville, an international team of researchers including Antonio Gámiz of the University of Seville have found previously unidentified details in the muqarnas, or ornamental vaults, in the two temples in the Lions’ Courtyard at the Alhambra, a medieval Islamic palace. To track the repairs made to the fourteenth-century structures, the researchers reviewed historic drawings of the muqarnas dating back to the seventeenth century, made new computer-assisted drawings of the structures, and then created 3-D scans of the muqarnas. The study revealed that the two vaults have different configurations, and that their original designs have been altered by repairs. To read about Muslim burials found in France that may date to the Umayyad Islamic caliphate's eighth-century A.D. occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France, go to "Islam North of the Pyrenees."

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