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Illustration of Pedro Machuca, a Toledo-born architect and painter, before the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra
Architect Artist Castilian conquest & the Moriscos1492–1610

Pedro Machuca

Lived c. 1490–1550 (about 60 years)

Also known as
Pedro Machuca de Toledo, Pietro Spagnolo

Pedro Machuca was born in Toledo around 1490 and died in Granada in 1550. A painter as well as an architect, he trained in Italy and is said to have been a pupil or friend of Michelangelo and Pontormo. The Royal Academy of History dates his definitive settlement in Granada from 1524.

He is remembered above all for the Palace of Charles V, begun in 1527 in the middle of the Alhambra, a project that occupied him until his death. The palace was still unfinished then, and Charles V never lived in it. His son Luis carried the work on.

Two more traces sit on the walks around the hill. The Pilar de Carlos V, a fountain dated 1545 to 1546, is attributed to him and stands on the Alhambra forest walk. The Puerta de las Granadas, a gate attributed to him as well, rises at the top of the Cuesta de Gomérez.

For the building itself, read the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra.

Places to see

The Alhambra palace complex viewed from the Albaicin hillside, with the Sierra Nevada mountains behind
Alhambra
Interior courtyard of the Palace of Charles V at the Alhambra, home to the Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada
Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada
Dappled light through the elm and oak canopy of the Bosque de la Alhambra, Granada, with the Pilar de Carlos V fountain on the cobbled path
Bosque Alhambra Forest Walk
Tree-lined Cuesta de Gomérez avenue in Granada leading up toward the Puerta de las Granadas arch
Cuesta de Gomérez — Historic Approach to the Alhambra

In their time

  1. Castilian conquest & the Moriscos

    1492–1610

    Boabdil handed Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella on 2 January 1492, after a siege whose camp became the town of Santa Fe. Enrique Egas drew a Gothic plan for the cathedral in 1518 and building began in 1523. Diego de Siloé, master builder from 1529, changed it into Spain's first fully Renaissance cathedral, with a circular capilla mayor.

    1. Monastery of San Jerónimo

      1504 Monument

      San Jerónimo holds the tomb of the Great Captain in a Renaissance church completed in 1522, with a carved altarpiece and gilded ceilings of exceptional quality.

    2. Royal Chapel of Granada

      1504 Monument

      Isabelline Gothic chapel with the tombs of Isabella I and Ferdinand II. The sacristy holds royal regalia and paintings by Memling, Botticelli, and Bouts.

    3. Monasterio de la Cartuja

      1516 Monument

      Founded in 1516 by El Gran Capitán, La Cartuja's sacristy is one of Spain's most ornate Baroque spaces — marble inlay, gilded altars, and near-total silence.

    4. Granada Cathedral

      1523 Monument

      Granada Cathedral in Spain took 181 years to build from 1523, blending Gothic foundations with a Renaissance interior of five naves and a gilded dome chapel.

    5. Mirador de San Nicolás

      1525 Monument

      Free 24-hour viewpoint in the Albaicín with unobstructed Alhambra views and the Sierra Nevada as backdrop. Crowds peak at sunset; early morning is far quieter.

    6. Hernando de Talavera

      c. 1430–1507 Historical figure

      Hernando de Talavera, Isabella's confessor, became Granada's first archbishop in 1493. He learned Arabic himself and encouraged his clergy to do the same.

    7. Count of Tendilla

      c. 1440–1515 Historical figure

      Íñigo López de Mendoza, Count of Tendilla, governed the Alhambra from 1492 and died in 1515. Find his trace on the Alhambra hill and what to read next.

    8. Isabella I

      1451–1504 Historical figure

      Isabella I of Castile, queen 1474–1504, chose Granada for her tomb in 1504. Her life in brief and where her trace survives in the Royal Chapel and the city.

    9. Ferdinand II of Aragon

      1452–1516 Historical figure

      Ferdinand II of Aragon co-ruled with Queen Isabella through the Granada War, which ended on 2 January 1492, and is buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada.

    10. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba

      1453–1515 Historical figure

      Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Gran Capitán, helped arrange Granada's surrender in 1492 and died near the city in 1515. Where his trace remains in Granada.

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Read more

Washington Irving Alhambra scene at dusk: a moonlit view of the Patio de los Leones with marble lion fountain, 124 columns casting long shadows, evoking the Romantic atmosphere of 1829 when Irving wrote Tales of the Alhambra
Washington Irving and the Tales of the Alhambra
Circular courtyard of the Palacio de Carlos V Alhambra at golden hour, 32 Doric columns casting long shadows on stone paving, open sky above, Renaissance architecture inside Islamic palace complex
Palacio de Carlos V: the Alhambra's Renaissance Paradox