In turn, the Pushkin poem inspired Vladimir Belsky's libretto for the opera ' The Golden Cockerel' by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.ĭudley Buck set portions of the text of the Don Munio chapter for his 1874 oratorio The Legend of Don Munio. A plaque now marks the rooms in which Irving stayed while writing some of his book.Īlexander Pushkin's 1834 tale in verse The Tale of the Golden Cockerel is based on two chapters of Tales of the Alhambra. The book was instrumental in reintroducing the Alhambra to Western audiences. In 1851, Irving wrote an 'Author's Revised Edition', also titled Tales of the Alhambra.Ĭommemorative plaque at the Alhambra, saying 'Washington Irving wrote his Tales of Alhambra in these rooms in 1829' in Spanish Shortly after the book's publication, Irving returned to New York after a 17-year absence from the United States. Consisting of a series of essays and short fiction pieces, it was referred to as his 'Spanish Sketch Book'. The Alhambra: a series of tales and sketches of the Moors and Spaniards was published in May 1832 in the United States by publishers Lea & Carey and concurrently in England by Henry Colburn, and attributed to ' Geoffrey Crayon'.

He arrived in London by late September 1829. He wrote, 'How unworthy is my scribbling of the place.' Irving continued to travel through Spain until he was appointed as secretary of legation at the United States Embassy in London, serving under the incoming minister Louis McLane. Throughout his trip, Washington filled his notebooks and journals with descriptions and observations, though he did not believe his writing would ever do it justice. The book combines description, myth and narrations of real historical events, even up through the destruction of some of the palace's towers by the French under Count Sebastiani in 1812, and the further damage caused by an earthquake in 1821.

Aided by a 35-year-old guide named Mateo Ximenes, Irving was inspired by his experience to write Tales of the Alhambra. He immediately asked the then-governor of the historic Alhambra Palace as well as the archbishop of Granada for access to the palace, which was granted because of Irving's celebrity status. At first sight, he described it as 'a most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest landscapes that I have ever seen.' Irving was preparing a book called A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, a history of the years 1478–1492, and was continuing his research on the topic. Shortly after completing a biography of Christopher Columbus in 1828, Washington Irving travelled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain. Irving lived at the Alhambra Palace while writing some of the material for his book.

Washington irving and the alhambra