The Alhambra, Granada, Spain

The Alhambra was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889 on the remains of Roman fortifications and then largely ignored until its ruins were renovated and rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Moorish emir Mohammed Ben Al-Ahmar of the Emirate of Granada. It was converted into a royal palace in 1333 by Yusuf I, sultan of Granada. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconqista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Colombus allegedly received royal endorsement for his expedition to find America) and the palaces were partially altered to Renaissance tastes. In 1526 Charles I & V commissioned a new Renaissance palace better befitting a Holy Roman Emperor.