Granada - Palacio de Carlos V

On the east side of Granada's Plaza de los Aljibes is the palace built for the Emperor Charles V by Pedro Machuca. Begun in 1526 but never completed, the palace was paid for by a special tax imposed on Moors who had remained in Granada after its reconquest. The palace is a massive structure 65m/207ft square and 17m/57ft high. Even in its unfinished state the palace, with its sober facade, is the finest example of High Renaissance architecture in Spain. Apart from the facade the only part completed is the pillared inner courtyard, a two-story rotunda with Doric columns in the lower gallery and Ionic columns in the upper gallery.