He likewise adorned many of the courts
and halls of the palace, as may be seen by the inscriptions on the
walls, in which his name repeatedly occurs. He built also the noble
Alcazar or citadel of Malaga, now unfortunately a mere mass of
crumbling ruins, but which most probably exhibited in its interior,
similar elegance and magnificence with the Alhambra.
The genius of a sovereign stamps a character upon his time. The
nobles of Granada, imitating the elegant and graceful taste of
Yusef, soon filled the city of Granada with magnificent palaces; the
halls of which were paved with mosaic, the walls and ceilings
wrought in fretwork, and delicately gilded and painted with azure,
vermilion, and other brilliant colors, or minutely inlaid with cedar
and other precious woods; specimens of which have survived, in all
their lustre, the lapse of several centuries. Many of the houses had
fountains, which threw up jets of water to refresh and cool the air.
They had lofty towers also, of wood or stone, curiously carved and
ornamented, and covered with plates of metal that glittered in the
sun. Such was the refined and delicate taste in architecture that
prevailed among this elegant people; insomuch that to use the
beautiful simile of an Arabian writer, "Granada, in the days of Yusef,
was as a silver vase filled with emeralds and jacinths."
One anecdote will be sufficient to show the magnanimity of this
generous prince.
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