Versions and visions of the Alhambra in the nineteenth-century Ottoman world

Abstract

The Alhambra as a source of inspiration for Western architects in the nineteenth century is well known and has been thoroughly documented. But “alhambresque” style was not just an Orientalist exoticism in the West. It was also used in Muslim contexts, where the style was considered suitable for public buildings—the entrance to the former Ministry of Defense building in Istanbul, for example—as well as for royal pavilions and palace interiors. In this article I explore the use of the alhambresque style in non-Western contexts in the nineteenth century, where “alhambresque” came to mean something more than simply fashionable exoticism.