The Fountain of The Lions
The latest research suggest that the Lions come from the house of the Jewish vizier "Yusuf Ibn Nagrela" (1066). It is not known if they were constructed before his death, and at the time, he was accused of wanting to build a much bigger palace than the king's. An almost exact description of the original fountain is still kept, written by the poet "Ibn Gabirol" (11th-c): they represent the 12 tribes of Israel, two of them have a triangle on the forehead, indicating the two chosen tribes:" Judá" and "Leví". They are from the 11th century. The Lions have recently been removed from the fountain for restoration, but will soon be back where they belong.
The poet and minister Ibn Zamrak wrote a poem to describe the beauty of the courtyard. It is carved around the border of the basin:
Read more about this topic: Court Of The Lions
Famous quotes containing the words fountain and/or lions:
“More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“If oxen and horses and lions had hands and were able to draw with their hands and do the same things as men, horses would draw the shapes of gods to look like horses and oxen would draw them to look like oxen, and each would make the gods bodies have the same shape as they themselves had.”
—Xenophanes (c. 570–478 B.C.)