Jardín Nazarí

The Nazrid Garden in Vélez de Benaudalla, known as the “Little Generalife”, is an exceptional example of a Hispanic-Muslim garden and has a remarkable historic value.

A recreational estate, used as a farm, is equipped with the necessary elements for that use, while also providing enjoyment for the senses, because the Al-Andalus gardens were designed to provide men and women five main benefits: spiritual (because the garden is the earthly vision of Paradise), aesthetic (the generated landscape stimulates all the senses and inspires artistic creation), psychological (the ambience invites contemplation, relaxation and rest), botanist and scientific (an ideal place to adapt and cultivate species brought from far-away lands) and nutritious (the vegetable garden, an essential part of any Nasrid garden, was the area for growing aromatic plants, condiments, fruit trees and vegetables).

Water flow follows along a main axis, comprising a free-flowing irrigation canal that adapts to the terrain and that flows along different branches, and using ingenious artifices, the entire irrigation system waters the vegetable garden as well as the ponds, fountains, spouts and waterfalls. Furthermore, its refreshing and inviting sound intermixes with the aroma of flowers and trees. The great diversity of plants relate to the functions of these types of spaces. They never lack blooming flowers year-round, aromas to set the ambience, plants used in cuisine and as condiments, trees and bushes and grass that generate an intricate green palace.

The Nasrid Garden contributes exceptional aesthetic values that are defined, fundamentally, by the delicate combination of natural elements and constructions, as well as through its careful design and a real concern for creating spaces for the enjoyment of the senses.