On the west side of the Alcázar is a beautiful, 13.5 acre garden. Among its three terraces are four, rectangular pools built in the 19th century. During the Islamic era, water for the palace came from the mountains via an aqueduct and the Guadalquivir River pumped by the Albolafia Mill. The gardens are also filled with fruit, palm and cypress trees plus flowerbeds. Among the walkways of Paseo de los Reyes are several monarch statues. The most famous memorializes a meeting that occurred here among Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs who financed his expeditions. The lions and castles on this gate respectively symbolize the Kingdoms of León and Castile, a union created when Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II married in 1469.
