After two visits inside the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, it was time to get some exterior views. The Alhambra has a stunning setting on a hillside above the city with the Sierra Nevada mountains rising behind. Surprisingly, the view is blocked from many of the narrow streets of the Albaicin district, which is situated just across the valley. There are, however, a few spectacular public viewpoints. One of the best — and busiest — is the Plaza of St Nicholas. You can see it in the following photo, taken from a balcony on the Alhambra:

The white tower is the Church of St Nicholas and the plaza can be seen in front of it — where all of the people are gathering. It seems to always be a busy spot, but especially around sunset as I found out on a second visit a few days later. The first time I arrived on the plaza it was nearly noon and it was still fairly bustling.

The sun was high and there were dense clouds on this day, so when we returned to Granada after a few days of exploring the Tropical Coast, I took advantage of a couple of free hours to re-visit the plaza to catch sunset. The crowds were much thicker but I managed to stake out a spot with my tripod, right along the wall and I captured this view of last light:

I’ll leave you with one more glimpse — the last that I had of the Alhambra as I made my way back down the narrow streets of the Albaicin on my way back to my hotel. I came to a small plaza with this view of the fortress palace just after the lights had come on and the sun was tinting the contrails pink. Not a bad way to say goodnight to an amazing piece of architecture, and history.