Things to do in Granada

Visit the Alhambra Palace

Of all the fabled landmarks in the world, none stands in a more gorgeous setting than the magnificent Alhambra, the hilltop fortress palace of the Nasrid kings, the last Muslim rulers of Spain. Snowcapped peaks of the nearby Sierra Nevada form a natural tapestry behind its golden walls, and below, a mosaic of Granada's Moorish Christian towers spread like a magic carpet over a fertile plain. Granada has much more to offer than the Alhambra, but it's worth the trip alone to visit this UNESCO World Heritage site, which is Spain's single biggest attraction.

The history of Granada

In its Roman days and up through the early Muslim period, Granada languished on history's sidelines. But the city came into its own during the 13th century, when the Moors began to lose their grip elsewhere in Andalusia. After Cordoba and Seville fell to Christian rule, Granada became the last surviving Islamic capital in Spain. Moors by the thousands flocked to the city, transforming it into a center of artists and craftsmen. The Alhambra was their masterpiece. Through ensuing centuries, this wonder of the world cast its spell over writers, painters, and musicians, including the 19th-century American author Washington Irving and two of Granada's most famous sons, the 20th-century composer Manuel de Falla and poetplaywright Federico Garcia Lorca.

The final triumph in the Christians 781 year struggle to regain Moorish-held Spain took place on January 2, 1492, when the last Muslim king, Boabdil, handed over the keys to the city to the Reyes Catolicos (Catholic Monarchs) Ferdinand and Isabella, and rode tearfully off into the mountains with the queen mother, Ayesha. (You weep like a woman for what you could not defend as a man were her immortal words of consolation to her son.) The Catholic Monarchs installed their thrones in the Alhambra and set about Christianizing the city, creating the architectural mix that is still in evidence.

Isabella ordered the construction of the cathedral and its Capula Real, the finely wrought Royal Chapel, where the marble tombs of the royal pair, as well as her crown and jewel box, can be seen today. Muslim mosques were converted into Christian uses. Unfortunately, many fine Moorish buildings have been destroyed, but a walk through the twisted, narrow streets of the Albaicin, an old Moorish neighborhood on a hill across from the Alhambra, gives a pretty good idea of what the city once was like.

Granada continued to flourish into the 16th century, then sank back into relative obscurity once again. Today it's a city with an economy that depends on its rich agricultural valley as well as on non-industrial enterprises such as banking, education, and tourism. Sightseeing in Granada is delightful. The absence of heavy manufacturing sections and the existence of only a scattering of garish modern buildings in the busy downtown area confer a smalltown, open-air feeling to the streets.

The large student population at the Universidad de inada keeps the city young, and Granada's famous and unavoidable Gypsy womenthose wheedling entrepreneurs who press carnations and fortunes On passersby at the cathedral and on the Alhambra hilladd to the city scene. The granadinos shoo them off with a firm no, but visitors don't get off so easily. Nonetheless, the Gypsies have a long history here, and local residents are accepting of their ways. They are part of Granada, and few people would want any part of this colorful, exotic city to change.

Special places to go in Granada

Granada is divided neatly into upper and lower towns. The upper city is composed of two prominent hills facing each other across the narrow gorge of a river, the Rio Darro. On the southern hill are the Alhambra and the adjoining Generalife (the summer palace and gardens of the Nasrid kings). On the northern hill is the old Moorish quarter, the Albaicin, now a fascinating residential district. An even taller satellite hill leads off from the Albaicin to the dusty Sacromonte Gypsy district, a warren of small white houses trailing out to a rocky mountainside pockmarked with abandoned Gypsy caves.

The main descent from the Alhambra is a narrow road, Cuesta de Gomerez, that drops directly down to the Plaza Nueva, where the lower city begins. The plaza is the eastern end of the principal eastwest artery, Calle de los Reyes Catolicos, which meets the principal north-south artery, Gran Via de Colon, at the circular Plaza de Isabella Catolica.

A much-photographed bronze statue of the enthroned Queen Isabella offering the Santa Fe agreement to Columbus graces this major intersection; the document, named for the nearby town where it was signed, authorized the epochal voyage to the Americas. Calle de los Reyes Catolicos then continues west, passing within a few short blocks of the cathedral, the Capilla Real, and other downtown sights, en route to Puerta Real, the hub of the city's business, shopping, and hotel and restaurant district.

The Alhambra Complex Granada

Spain's last remaining fortress-palace built for a Moorish sovereign stands atop the Alhambra hill, girded by more than a mile of ramparts that appear in the distance like a golden shield. Behind these walls is what amounts to a royal city, at the core of which is the Alhambra's crown jewel, the Casa Real (Royal Palace )actually a series of three palaces leading from one to the other as if they were one building. Within their fountained courtyards and fanciful halls, whose scalloped windows frame vistas of the Albaicin and Sacromonte, the sultans conducted state business and housed their families and harems.

The Alhambra was abandoned for centuries until Washington Irving wrote Tales of the Alhambra in 1832 after a stint as an attache in the US Embassy in Madrid (he was later Ambassador to Spain). The book focused world attention on this neglected treasure and prompted Spain to begin restoration; most of the present plasterwork, mosaics, and inlaid wood are skillful reproductions. Today the complex is Spain's single most visited tourist attraction.

An Alhambra visit takes at least one full day (on the run), and it's wise to arrive at opening time, because as the day progresses, the lines of people waiting to walk through the palaces get longer these famous rooms and courtyards are surprisingly small. The main approach to the fortress is via the steep Cuesta de Gomerez and through the Puerta de las Granadas (Pomegranate Gate), which signals the entrance to the Alhambra's cool, elmforested grounds. Beyond the main entrance, bordering the Plaza de los Aljibes (Square of the Cisterns), are the fortifications of the Alcazaba and the Casa Real, the Moorish royal palaces. The Alhambra admission ticket includes visits to these two, as well as the Generalife, which is outside the Alhambra walls; Charles V's palace, which is within the walls, can be entered without paying any admission charge, although there is a separate charge for its museums.

The Alhambra complex is open daily, and there is an admission charge. During the summer, visitors are admitted to the illuminated Alhambra.

The Alcazaba Granada

The oldest part of the Alhambra,dating back to the 9th century, this rugged medieval fortress had been part of the hill's defenses before construction began on the royal palaces across the square. Climb the most spectacular of its towers, the Torre de la Vela (Watch Tower), for a view directly down into the Plaza Nueva and out as far as the Sierra Nevada.

Mexuar Granada

This is the first of the three palaces that make up the Casa Real. From the outside, it appears to be a simple stucco residence, but it was actually the headquarters of the sultan's ministers. The first main council chamber, the Salon del Mexuar, was converted into a chapel in the 17th century, hence the coat of arms of Castile beneath the Moorish ceiling of marquetry and plaster restorations.

The room is a tame introduction to the splendors of the Alhambra, but its dazzling mirador suggests the mesmerizing world to come, and the spectacle builds as visitors pass through another council chamber, the Cuarto Dorado (Golden Room), to the Patio del Mexuar, one of the palace's smallest but most admired spaces.

Palacio de Comares Granada

This was the royal palace proper, named for the stained glass that once decorated its windows. Its centerpiece is the Patio de !os Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles), graced with an oblong fishpond running its length between symmetrical myrtle hedges. The tower with the balconies (to the right upon entering the patio) is a remnant of a Mooish palace partially knocked down to make room for Charles V's palace behind It.

Opposite is the Torre de Comares, a fortification tower that houses the magnificent Salon de Embajadores (Hall of Ambassadors), the Moorish kings' throne room (where, in March 1492, the new lords of Granada, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, signed the decree expelling the Jews from Spain). Perfectly square, and clothed in lacy plaster arabesques and brilliant mosaics, the throne room is the largest room in all three palaces.

Its domed artesonado (inlaid wood ceiling) is a geometric depiction of the firmament comprising more than 8,000 separate pieces of painted wood. The Salon de Embajadores is separated from the court by an ante-chamber with an intricate inlaid cedar ceiling, the Sala de la Barca (literally and mistakenly Hall of the Boat; its name in English, Hall of Benediction, more accurately translates the original Arabic baraka).

Palace of the Lions Alhambra Granada

The final palace, built around the famous Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions), was the royal residence. The court's 124 slim marble columns, each with a subtly different design carved into its capital, are said to represent a palm oasis in the desert. In the center is a fountain, its basin supported by 12 gray marble lions, possibly representing the hours of the day, the months of the year, or the signs of the zodiac. At one time, it is said, water flowed from the mouth of a different lion each hour of the day. The lions no longer spout, but the fountain is filled, as are the four narrow channels (representing the four rivers of paradise) that run across the pebbled courtyard floor.

The channels were designed to carry used household water from fountains in the living quarters surrounding the court, and on at least one occasion when Boabdil's father ordered a mass beheading of suspected traitors among a group of nobles called Abencerrajes, the water ran red. The heads were thrown into the fountain of what came to be known as the Sala de los Abencerrajes, the room to the right upon entering the patio.

Note the room's stalactite plasterwork ceiling with high inset windows, then go directly across the courtyard to the Sala de las Dos Hermanas (Hall of the Two Sisters), which has an even more extravagant dome. This room, named for two marble slabs set in the floor near the entrance, was reserved for the sultan's wife and was inhabited at one time by Boabdil's mother, Ayesha. Off the room is the Sala de los Almeces (Room of the Windows), with the jewel-like Mirador de Lindaraja, or Mirador de Daraxa, the sultana's private balcony. The windows are low to the ground so the queen could gaze into her private cypress garden, the Patio de Lindaraja, from a couch of floor pillows.

The Sala de Los Reyes Alhambra Palace Granada

At the far end of the Court of the Lions is the Sala de los Reyes (Hall of the Kings), surprising for its unusual 14th-century ceiling paintings, probably by Christian artists. Downstairs from the Patio de los Leones, the Patio de Lindaraja leads to the sumptuous Sala de Banos (Royal Baths), where the sultan observed his women from balconies. Small star-shaped windows in the ceiling let in light and allowed steam to escape. Washington Irving's furnished rooms, where he began his book about the Alhambra, are upstairs in the Patio de la Reja (Window Grill Patio). They're opened by special request only.

The Alhambra Gardens Granada

Upon leaving the royal palaces, visitors first pass the Jardines which occupy an area that once held the kitchen garden of the palace servants and contain the Torre de las Damas (Ladies' Tower), with a delicate porticoed mirador at its base. From here, garden lovers can choose their own paths among the lily pools, fountains, waterfalls, and flower beds that parallel the fortress wall and its succession of towers.

Or, by following the fortifications to a footbridge across a narrow gorge, visitors can proceed directly to the Generalife. (It also can be reached from outside the Alhambra through a ticket gate at the parking lot.

Generalife the Alhambra Granada

Generalife derives from the Arabic for Garden of the Architect, and was the summer home of the Nasrid rulers. Though the remnants of its simple white palace and pavilions are appealing, the main attractions are the colorful terraced flower gardens, cypress-lined walkways, the pools, and the miradors from which the potentates could catch the country breezes while keeping an eye on the Alhambra below. Also noteworthy is the Patio de la Acequia (Patio of the Canal) within the palace walls; it's an ancient plant-filled paradise with rows of fountain jets sending arcs of dancing waters over a long, narrow pool.

The Palace of Carlos V Granada

The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who so loved Granada that at one point he planned to hold court here, built himself a grandiose Italianate palace right next to the delicate medieval Moorish structures of the Alhambra. This majestic interloper, designed by Pedro Machuca, a student of Michelangelo, has been admired for its beautiful proportions and hated for its unsuitable location from the very start.

Inside are two museums. The Museo Hispano Musulman (Hispano Muslim Museum) contains fragments of original marble and tile from the Alhambra and other ancient city buildings, as well as jewelry and ceramics.The Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes (Provincial Fine Arts Museum) contains painting, sculpture, and stained glass primarily by Granadan artists from the 15th to the 20th centuries.

The San Francisco Parador Granada

Also within the walls of the complex, this convent founded by Ferdinand and Isabella in the 15th century is now a government-run parador and restaurant.

The Manuel de Falla Museum Granada

The early 20thcentury composer Manuel de Falla's charming whitewashed house on the Alhambra hill has been kept as it was during his lifetime. A typical Granadan villa, or carmen, it has a bright blue front door and a garden awash with roses. De Falla's piano, furniture, manuscripts, photos, and mementos are on display.

Albaicin and Sacromonte Granada

These are Granada's oldest neighborhoods, dating back to medieval times. Even after the Christian reconquest of the city, Moors continued to populate this old quarter (Moors living under Christian rule were called mudejares, and lent their name to the distinctive hybrid Moorish Gothic style of architecture called Mudejar).

Now a residential area in the early stage of gentrification, it can be reached by a fascinating walk from Plaza Nueva up the Carrera del Darro, which becomes Paseo del Padre Manjon before turning left up the Cuesta de Chapiz. En route, it passes several landmarks, including El Banuelo (Moorish Baths).

On Cuesta de Chapiz, the Casa del Chapiz, a quintessential carmen that is now a college of Arab studies. Make a right turn at Camino del Sacromonte to climb the dusty streets, lined with sunbaked houses, into the Sacromonte Gypsy district, or continue along the Cuesta de Chapiz into the heart of the Albaicin. The long, steep road is rough going, especially on a hot summer day, but you can't go wrong by choosing any route either up or down through the neighborhood's narrow streets of red-roofed houses and walled gardens.

The Royal Chapel Granada

For King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, to die in Granada was a triumph, and the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) serves as their eternal gilded trophy (as well as their mausoleum). For seven centuries Spain had belonged to the Moors, and Granada was their last stand. So when the Catholic Monarchs finally conquered the city, they undertook the construction of a small chapel. This Gothic Plateresque treasure is now downtown Granada's greatest attraction.

The cathedral beside it did not yet exist when the royal couple began construction on their final resting place in 1504, and because the chapel was not yet complete at their deaths (Isabella died in 1504, her husband in 1516), the two were buried initially at the Convento de San Francisco (now the parador) at the Alhambra.

They were moved when the new chapel was completed by their grandson and successor, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in 1517. Visitors enter through the Lonja (Exchange House), an adjoining building on Calle de los Oficios, the narrow pedestrian street alongside the cathedral.
Note the graceful frieze on the chapel's facade, one of many decorative variations on the royal initials and crest that appear throughout the building. Inside, a wroughtiron reja (grille) crafted by Bartolome de Jaen separates the nave of the cruciform chapel from the apse.

Behind the grille is an elaborate carved wood altarpiece with scenes from the conquest of Granada, including Boabdil's farewell, along its base. To the right (as you face the altar) are the recumbent Carrara marble figures of Ferdinand and Isabella, sculpted by Domenico Fancelli of Florence in 1517; to the left are marble effigies of Juana la Loca and Felipe el Hermoso (Joan the Mad and Philip the Handsomethe parents of Charles V), sculpted by Bartolome Ordonez in 1520. Stairs at the royal feet lead to a crypt containing four lead caskets where the royal remains actually lie plus a smaller one for a royal grandchild.

Isabella's prodigious collection of paintings, many by Flemish masters, as well as her scepter, her ornate jewel chest, her dainty filigree crown, Ferdinand's sword, and church vestments are on display in the chapel's sacristy. Above the chapel's exit doorway is a Copy of a famous painting of Boabdil's surrender to Isabella; in it, she wears the filigree crown.

Granada Cathedral

After the lush, dark intimacy of the Capilla Real, the cathedral's white interior, flooded with light from high stained glass windows, overwhelms with a stark grandeur. Begun in 1523, it was originally meant to be Gothic in style, but during the 150 years of its construction, under principal architects Diego de Siloe and Alonso Cano, a Renaissance church took shape. Outside, be sure to view Cano's 17th century main facade, on the west along Plaza de las Pasiegas, and the Puerta del Perdon (Door of Forgiveness), a notably elaborate side entrance facing north on Calle de la CarceJ.

The visitors' entrance at Gran Via de Colon leads to the ambulatory around the golden Capula Mayor, or chancel, where a 150-foot dome is ringed by a double tier of stained glass windows and by enormous scenes from the life of the Virgin painted by Cano. Notice the polychrome figures at prayer on either side of the main arch: These are Ferdinand and Isabella, who commissioned the cathedral to celebrate the city's reconquest but died before they saw a stone placed. Numerous glittering side chapels grace the church; don't miss the extravagantly carved and gilded Capilla de Nuestra Senora de la Antigua (Chapel of Our Lady of La Antigua), also called the Capilla Dorada (Golden Chapel), on the north wall.

The House of Coal Granada

A Moorish horseshoe arch leads into the gray stone courtyard of this building, which originally was an inn of the Grand Hotel of 14th-century Islamic Granada and subsequently a warehouse, a theater, and an apartment house. Now it houses Granada's branch of Artespana, the government-run handicrafts company that has shops throughout Spain. The streets to the south and east of the building were the core of the old juderia (Jewish quarter), where Jewish granadinos (20% of the city's population at one time) lived and worked before the quarter was razed and its denizens expelled from Spain on order of Ferdinand and Isabella. 40 Calle Mariana Pineda.

The Monastery of St Jerome Granada

Founded in Granada after the Christian reconquest, this huge edifice. has both a private and a public cloister, the latter a magnificent space with double tiers of arcaded ambulatories surrounding an orange grove. The 16thcentury monastery church is one of Diego de Siloe's greatest buildings.

Our Lady of Sorrows Granada

This charming Renaissance church in the downtown shopping district honors the city's patron saint. The church's carved wood statue of the Virgin, bearing Christ in her arms, is carried through the city during Easter week. Open daily for mass; check at your hotel for times. Carrera de la Virgen.

Granada Airport and car hire

Granada Airport has evolved into a busy passenger airport, which welcomes thousands of visitors from the UK every year. If you are planning to visit Granada or travel around Andalusia, pre-book a hire car from Granada or Malaga Airport, which will save you time when you arrive. Granada Airport car hire is not expensive, and the best way to discover the attractions of this diverse city is to hire a car from the airport.

Special events in Granada

Granada's most unique celebration, the Dia de la Toma (Day of the Capture), on January 2, commemorates the day in 1492 when the Muslim ruler, Boabdil, turned the city over to Ferdinand and Isabella, thereby completing the Reconquista (Christian reconquest of Spain). Granada marks the day with a parade and the tolling of the bell installed in the Alhambra by Ferdinand and Isabella, and the flag of the Catholic Monarchs hangs from the Ayuntamiento (City Hall).

On May 3, Cruces de Mayo (Crosses of May), there is dancing in the streets and plazas which are bedecked with crosses covered with spring flowers. A much bigger event, the Fiesta de Corpus Christi, features a glittering holy procession that displays the monstrance Isabella gave the cathedral, and costumed granadinos who ride horseback through downtown traffic. Other events include bullfights, a flamenco festival, and a sprawling fair. Granada's renowned annual Festival Internacional de Musica y Danza runs for three weeks bridging June and July.