El Palacio de Carlos V was built within the Alhambra in Granada. The first photo is of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevadas behind it. If you click on the photos they become larger. Carlos V was the King during which the Habsburgs reigned over Central, some of Western and Southern Europe as well as just taken claim of the Aztec and Inca civilizations and land in the "New Spain". This includes, Hungary, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, some of France, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Mexico, Chile and much more. He was king of what is known as modern day Spain but he was born in Ghent, which is a town an hour away from us in Belgium. When you start to read about the kings and queens you realize that they were all married amongst each other and it gets quite confusing. For instance his aunt Catherine of Aragon was the first wife of Henry VIII. Carlos V was a perfect example of the inbreeding that went on and actually suffered from a oversized jaw which got worse as time went on in the Habsburg family. The Palace of Carlos V was built by Pedro Machuca who was a disciple of Michelangelo and apparently was "avant garde" for the time in which is was built during the Renaissance. The style fits Carlos V because he was considered called the Holy Roman Emperor and the architecture reflects knowledge of Roman style with the round courtyard in the middle.
La Virgen de la Alhambra is a perfect example of the important statues of Maria/Mary in various stages of her anguish/angustias. Mary is revered of course and many women in Spain actually are given the name Maria and then another like Maria Encarna, Maria Triana, Maria Trini, Maria Teresa. Instead of writing Maria they put a Ma in front of their other name since during the past most women were Maria and something else. As Encarna told me once in explaining this naming system to me, since women suffer like Maria did in the bible we also share her name.
On the head of Maria you will see a crown. These crowns that many of the important Maria statues wear are made of Gold, silver and contain precious stones. Still today the members of the churches donate millions of dollars to crown their Virgen. Often the statues will be taken to Rome to be blessed by the Pope.
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