The Mediterranean cypress is one of the most valued trees by ancient cultures of Europe and the Middle East for its medicinal properties -for this reason it appears in an Assyrian inscription of 3500 years ago- its hard wood and its aromatic qualities. The cypresses have been associated with immortality and hospitality since ancient times, it is not therefore surprising that they appear linked to both cemeteries and houses, where their presence symbolized shelter and asylum. The Greek and Latin poets attributed to the cypress a funeral meaning, considering it the tree of the dead, being dedicated to Pluto, god of the underworld. This spiritual symbolism, linked to eternal life -the cypress is indeed a long-lived species that can live 3,000 years- was retaken by the Christians and thus accompanies the graves and cemeteries. It is also believed that it was, along with the cedar, olive and palm, one of the four trees whose wood was used to build the cross of Christ and Noah's ark. The cypress had an ‘architectural’ and decorative use not only in Roman times, but also in medieval Islamic, and thus its use is recommended by the agronomists of the al-Andalus Ibn Luyun and Ibn al-'Awwam. The presence of cypress pollen in the medieval layers of the Generalife at the Alhambra in Granada certifies its presence from the origin of these gardens, even in significantly more abundant amounts than today, so no wonder that at some point in the Andalusian period the cypress was used with an ornamental sense in the Alcázar of Seville.