30 Nov, 2009 @ 13:56
1 min read
1

Back with a roar

SPAIN’s most famous lions have made their long-awaited return to the wild.

After a two-year absence, the Alhambra’s famous Patio of Lions are now back in their natural habitat.

The 12 marble lions were removed as part of a restoration project to scrape away the calcium carbonate, black fungus and algae which had built up on their manes since the 14th century.

“Everything points to the fact that they were made by a different craftsman.”

However, this seemingly mundane technique has uncovered a few secrets about the pride in the process.

For the experts charged with the taxing job have discovered that each lion – given its own individual pet name – was carefully sculpted by a different craftsman.

“Their tails are all of varying length. Also, their profiles and weights are completely different,” said Director of the Alhambra Board of Trustees, Maria del Mar Villafranca.

“Everything points to the fact that they were made by a different craftsman.”

“None of them are the same, they all have their own characteristics.”

The studies also date the birth of Félix, Melanie, Olivia, Rey Gudú, Calimero and co back to between 1362 and 1391 – they were fashioned by order of Muhammed V.

The Olive Press previously reported that the restoration efforts had revealed graffiti etched into the lions in 1831 by British author and hispanist Richard Ford.

The process has demanded a great deal of coordination, time and money.

Just hoisting the lions from their home in the Nazarí palace to a building close to the Generalife gardens is said to have cost more than half a million euros.

But now finally, all 12 of them are back on the prowl.

Click here to read more News from The Olive Press.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

1 Comment

  1. Great news that the famous lions are back in the Alhammbra. Just too late for my wife and I who visited the palace in May!! Still, it’s a good excuse to go back to our favourite city in Spain

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