To our left, we beheld the towers of the Alhambra
beetling above us; to our right, on the opposite side of the ravine,
we were equally dominated by rival towers on a rocky eminence.
These, we were told, were the Torres Vermejos, or vermilion towers, so
called from their ruddy hue. No one knows their origin. They are of
a date much anterior to the Alhambra: some suppose them to have been
built by the Romans; others, by some wandering colony of
Phoenicians. Ascending the steep and shady avenue, we arrived at the
foot of a huge square Moorish tower, forming a kind of barbican,
through which passed the main entrance to the fortress. Within the
barbican was another group of veteran invalids, one mounting guard
at the portal, while the rest, wrapped in their tattered cloaks, slept
on the stone benches. This portal is called the Gate of Justice,
from the tribunal held within its porch during the Moslem
domination, for the immediate trial of petty causes: a custom common
to the oriental nations, and occasionally alluded to in the Sacred
Scriptures. "Judge and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates,
and they shall judge the people with just judgment."
The great vestibule, or porch of the gate, is formed by an immense
Arabian arch, of the horseshoe form, which springs to half the
height of the tower. On the keystone of this arch is engraven a
gigantic hand. Within the vestibule, on the keystone of the portal, is
sculptured, in like manner, a gigantic key.
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