♪♪ Narrator: The Chateau of Fontainebleau and the palatial city of the Alhambra are two splendid sites built three centuries apart, at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from each other.

Two fundamentally different places yet which are linked by one and the same element -- water.

An eternal source of life here, water expresses the desires of sovereigns.

The presence of water dominated the marshy forest of Fontainebleau.

By bringing it under control, the kings of France were able to create magnificent gardens.

On this arid Andalusian hill, water was, on the contrary, extremely rare.

Defying the laws of nature, the sultan transported it to the sumptuous gardens of his palace.

From the kingdoms of France to the kingdom of Andalusia, taking control of water became an unmistakable sign of the power of sovereigns.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well before the era of Versailles, it was in Fontainebleau that it all began for the kings of France.

Major events in French history took place there.

It's here that the first Renaissance gardens saw the light of day.

Since the Middle Ages, the kings of France had enjoyed hunting in the forest of Fontainebleau.

Legend has it that one day a dog from the royal pack named Bleau came across a source of water.

A fountain was built on the spot which subsequently gave its name to the chateau -- Fontaine Bleau.

♪♪ ♪♪ The forest, with its trees that were small and sparse enough to spot game, became the backdrop for grandiose hunting scenes For the kings, this provided an opportunity to showcase their omnipotence, to conquer nature.

Ever since, Diana, the goddess of the hunt, has always been the lady of the house at Fontainebleau, where water and nature provide a sensual, feminine presence.

The history of the Chateau of Fontainebleau really begins with Francis I of France.

When he arrived in Fontainebleau in the 16th century, the castle was a simple medieval dungeon located close to a lake.

The surrounding marshy land was waterlogged.

Man: [ Speaking French ] Narrator: At the heart of the palace, Francis I's gallery, the most emblematic room in the chateau, bears witness to Fontainebleau's golden age.

Among the frescoes that decorate the walls, one image highlights the importance of water for the court.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Francis I gradually surrounded the chateau with basins and gardens to showcase it, launching a new trend in France.

But to create these gardens, he first had to tackle the numerous waterways that crossed the site, threatening to flood it.

The solution was to take control of them.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Long before, here we are in the heart of eighth-century Andalusia.

The Arabs began their conquest of Spain in the year 711.

Coming from deserts and territories that were a great deal more arid than Andalusia, the invaders brought with them advanced hydraulic knowledge.

♪♪ Thanks to their techniques, Spain developed rapidly in all areas.

500 years later, the Christians reconquered Spain.

But in Andalusia, at the foot of the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada, one final Muslim bastion survived -- Granada.

At a time when his world was collapsing around him, Sultan Muhammad I of the Nasrid dynasty decided to build a palatial city for all eternity in the form of the Alhambra.

This jewel is the very pinnacle of Islamic culture.

Man: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Transforming the arid hillside into an oasis was a real challenge.

6,000 years before, mastering the art of water control in Mesopotamia had paved the way for land to be cultivated in the middle of the desert.

♪♪ Bolstered by this legacy, the sultan had a canal built that transported water to the hill from the River Darro, six kilometers upstream.

The river had an endless year-round supply of water from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, meaning "snow" in Spanish.

Man: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: Thanks to the outstanding know-how of the hydraulic engineers, the same waterway runs along the canals reaches the upper part of the summer palace vegetable garden, runs down the water stairway and crosses the court of the main canal before finally entering the Alhambra through the aqueduct.

♪♪ The ingenious hydraulic system enables the gardens of the Alhambra to flower all year round.

The most beautiful gardens can be found 700 meters away from the main palace, in an independent summer palace called the Generalife.

The sultan came here to relax and unwind, away from the commotion of the court.

♪♪ ♪♪ Man: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] Narrator: At the time of the Nasrids, the gardens were devoted as much to visual pleasure as to agriculture, but over time, nutritional needs became increasingly important, and the irrigation capacity had to be increased.

Large water storage basins were created, though 400 cubic meters of water were brought in thanks to one of the most remarkable hydraulic machines of its era -- an animal-powered noria.

This large wheel, with its chain of buckets activated by a mule, brought large quantities of water up from the canal.

♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: We are at the dawn of the Renaissance in Fontainebleau.

The climate here is a great deal colder and more humid than in Andalusia -- not the best conditions to transform a marshy landscape into pleasure gardens.

What's more, the kings still know nothing at all about the art of decoration.

Through the great wars of Italy, they discovered residences of captivating beauty which they sought to imitate.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: The monarch brought in the famous Italian artist Francesco Primaticcio to the court.

A painter, architect, and sculptor, this multitalented artist arrived at the Court of France under the direction of Il Rosso.

The two men started what was later to be called the First School of Fontainebleau.

These decorations, which blended painting, sculpted stucco, and wood reliefs, was an entirely new way of embellishing interiors.

New fashions also appeared in the gardens under Italian influence.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: The magnificent ancient bronze statues are exhibited today in the Gallery of Stags, but it's easy to imagine how they must have transformed the gardens into places of leisure and sensual beauty.

Since the Renaissance, the gardens and the forest had been the main attraction of the royal residence.

During each successive reign, the kings enlarged the chateau, always with the aim of getting closer to nature.

♪♪ ♪♪ Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Today Fontainebleau bears the hallmark of its successive monarchs.

Over the centuries new gardens appeared, and increasingly complex systems had to be devised to control the water.

Each king had his own aqueduct built to mark his reign, and once again the Italians were the project managers.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Woman: [ Speaking French ] Narrator: The Francini family were the chief engineers for these complex works.

The family came from Florence, and they passed their hydraulic expertise on from father to son in the court.

For over a century, they supervised the fountains at royal sites.

Their role was both technical and artistic.

Under their influence, water became a key element in the layout of gardens.

Without the ingenious vision of the Francinis, the complex water activity at Fontainebleau and Versailles would never have seen the light of day.

Mazureck: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Basins and fountains made French gardens famous.

Water was designed to procure pleasure and fun, but it was also essential for daily life in the court, of course.

The Belle-Eau Fountain was kept under constant surveillance.

The pure water it spouted was served at the king's table.

♪♪ ♪♪ Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Water pleasure has pride of place in the gardens of Fontainebleau.

Waterworks and boating were favorite pastimes of the court.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Whilst in Fontainebleau the water gardens were dedicated to pleasure and fantasy, the gardens of the Alhambra were loaded with meaning.

Their symbolism dated back to a very ancient period of history.

Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: The carpet of flowers of the gardens mirror the palace walls, which are covered in arabesque motifs.

In the Middle Ages, only high-ranking figures had a planted garden.

Gardens played a role in the display of power in the same way as palaces.

The more beautiful a sultan's garden, the more he shone in the eyes of the people and the court.

♪♪ ♪♪ Rojo: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: At the Alhambra, power is asserted through water.

Offering water to visitors was a way of displaying generosity.

During the Nasrid era, large jars of water were set out at the entrance to rooms for each person to drink.

Water was a precious commodity and its unlimited blessings were immortalized in the form of poems inscribed on the palace walls.

♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: Another symbol of power, the Grand Canal, was designed under the reign of Henry IV.

It took 40,000 cubic meters of water to fill this most spectacular construction of the Fontainebleau gardens.

Bearing witness to the excessive nature of the project, one anecdote recounts that the king bet 1,000 écus the canal would take two days to fill.

He lost his bet.

The engineers took a week.

But either way, the landscape was transformed forever.

Man: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: The water was channeled along a vast, straight 1,200-meter line, creating a new access at the chateau in the direction of the forest.

Unusually, when it was built, the Grand Canal did not link up to the other gardens.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Under Henry IV, the Fontainebleau water gardens reached unparalleled proportions in France.

The king showcased himself as the true master of the territory.

The hydraulic system then spread from the chateau to the Seine.

The Grand Canal in Fontainebleau bears witness to the king's efforts to display his power.

At the Alhambra, the basin of the Court of the Myrtles plays this same role.

The sultan dazzled his visitors with the reflections of light.

Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Vilchez: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: The murmur of the fountains contributes to the Alhambra's unique atmosphere.

It can also be heard in the famous Water Stairway.

Here the sultan walked up its steps amid pure moving water.

This was a form of meditation that brought him symbolically closer to paradise.

♪♪ ♪♪ The Islamic garden flatters all the senses.

Not only does the water serve to cool people down, its sweet sound also mingles with birdsong, and the breeze carries perfume from the flowers.

♪♪ Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: The profound sense of well-being that the garden procures opens up the spirit, making it receptive to the mysteries of the world.

In the shade of his palace, the sultan enjoyed the tranquility of the place.

He enjoyed overlooking the city and the surrounding landscapes.

Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] Narrator: Back in Fontainebleau, we now find ourselves under the reign of Louis XIV.

The Sun King's authority spread far and wide, even to his gardens.

He had unbounded passion and ambition.

As an absolute monarch who claimed to rule by divine right, he not only wanted to dominate his kingdom, but the whole horizon.

Louis XIV left nothing to chance.

It was said that he walked around Fontainebleau holding secateurs and would proceed to prune anything that protruded.

His landscape gardener, the famous André Le Nôtre, was a man of talent and a renowned courtier.

He experimented with new effects of perspective in Fontainebleau.

Amelot: [ Speaking French ] Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Droguet: [ Speaking French ] Amelot: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Le Nôtre brought the final touches to the overall appearance of the gardens of Fontainebleau.

He harmonized the legacy of the preceding sovereigns, providing overall consistency.

His gardens reflected a desire for total control over nature.

Droguet: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: The pared-down nature and precision of French gardens, with its strong focus on perspective, are a far cry from the intimate nature of the gardens of the Alhambra.

Here the walls are covered with poems that prompt reverie and introspection.

Here the palace is a character.

It addresses the visitor through architectural speech.

♪♪ Vilchez: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: To capture the full extent of the Alhambra's beauty, one must take the time to appreciate its gardens and decipher its poems -- poems that talk to us of grace and sensuality, and that frame the sultan as a sought-after hero.

Vilchez: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: At the heart of the palace of the Nasrids is the splendid Court of the Lions, the most emblematic part of the Alhambra.

Here the many columns of white marble set out around the courtyard capture the light and evoke one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

♪♪ Grammatico: [ Speaking French ] [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ Narrator: Inside the palace, the finely chiseled cupolas rival with the firmament.

One of them symbolizes the seven heavens of the Islamic paradise.

♪♪ Vilchez: [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ [ Speaking Spanish ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Like an oasis in the middle of the desert, the magic of the Alhambra enthralls and enchants.

It's sheer perfection has protected it from destruction over the centuries.

In this respect, the last sultans of Spain have achieved their aim to make their power shine forth for evermore.

In Fontainebleau, the kings of the Renaissance managed to transform dank marshes into elegant French gardens.

Today, these gardens constitute a truly exceptional heritage.

The great artists of their time contributed to the splendor of these two architectural masterpieces.

Water circulates in both places today, as it did in times past.

Thanks to the presence of water, both the Alhambra and Fontainebleau remain lively places, bearing eternal witness to the civilizations that created them.

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