Tower of Comares (Granada)

 tower, listed building / architectural heritage

The Comares Tower (Torre de Comares) is 45 meters high and therefore the highest tower in the Alhambra. It is so called because of the stained glass windows in the balconies that light the big inside hall, which are called «comarías».
The tower has several windows on its four façades, with gargoyles such as those on the Justice Tower (Torre de la Justicia) and merlons that were rounded off with pyramidal elements in the 16th century. The Hall of the Ambassadors (Salón de los Embajadores) is located inside the tower.
It is said that the Council that decided to surrender the city of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs took place inside this tower. The story tells that when Boabdil's mother learnt that her son was negotiating the surrender with the Christians, she told him, from one of the tower's balconies: «Look at what you surrender and remember that all your forebears died being kings of Granada and the kingdom dies in you». The legend also says that it was inside this tower that Christopher Columbus convinced the Catholic Monarchs to give their approval to his expeditions to the Indies towards the West (which lead to discovering America on October 12th 1492) and that the Queen offered Her jewelry to sponsor the journey.