Pathetic indeed were the fortunes of the Moors of Spain,—the

builders of this lovely pile. They brought to the Peninsula a civilization higher than any it had ever known. The land that they had subjugated, they ruled with dignity, intelligence, and wisdom for seven centuries, and then they passed away, bequeathing to the country of their adoption the most romantic pages of its history and its fairest monument, the Alhambra of Granada.

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