Sights in Andalucía
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Alhambra
Stretched along the top of the hill known as La Sabika, the Alhambra is the stuff of fairy tales. From outside, its red fortress towers and walls appear plain, if imposing, rising from woods of cypress and elm, with the Sierra Nevada forming a magnificent backdrop.
Try to visit first thing in the morning (8.30am) or late in the afternoon to avoid the crowds, or treat yourself to a magical night by visiting the Palacio Nazaríes.
The Alhambra contains two outstanding sets of buildings: the Palacio Nazaríes and the Alcazaba (Citadel). Also within its walls you’ll find the Palacio de Carlos V, the Iglesia de Santa María de la Alhambra, two hotels, several bookshops and souve…
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Alhambra
The Alhambra walls tease you and reveal little, but inside the marvellously decorated emirs' palace, Palacio Nazaríes (Nasrid Palace), Generalife (the Alhambra's gardens), and dozens of courtyards, the nooks and crannies are filled with beautiful decorations and fascinating stories from the days of Alhambra's glory.
The spell can be shattered by the average 6000 visitors who traipse through this Unesco World Heritage site each day, so try to visit first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon.
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Albayzín
On the hill facing the Alhambra across the Darro valley, Granada's old Muslim quarter, the Albayzín, is one of the city's most fabulous treasures. The steep, winding, cobblestone streets with gorgeous cármenes (large mansions with walled gardens, from the Arabic karm for garden), reveal the best views of the Alhambra and, likewise, the best views of the Albayzín are from the Alhambra.
The Albayzín's name derives from 1227, when Muslims from Baeza (Jaén province) moved here after their city was conquered by the Christians. It survived as the Muslim quarter for several decades after the Christian conquest in 1492. Islamic ramparts and fountains remain, and many of the Al…
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Palacio Nazaríes
This is the Alhambra's true gem, the most brilliant Islamic building in Europe, with its perfectly proportioned rooms and courtyards, intricately moulded stucco walls, beautiful tiling, fine carved wooden ceilings and elaborate stalactite-like muqarnas vaulting, all worked in mesmerising, symbolic, geometrical patterns. Arabic inscriptions proliferate in the stuccowork.
The Mexuar, through which you normally enter the palace, dates from the 14th century and was used as a council chamber and antechamber for audiences with the emir. The public would have gone no further.
From the Mexuar you pass into the Patio del Cuarto Dorado, a courtyard where the emirs gave audiences, wi…
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Mirador San Nicolás
Callejón de San Cecilio leads to the Mirador San Nicolás, a lookout with unbeatable views of the Alhambra and Sierra Nevada. Come back here later for sunset (you can't miss the trail then!). At any time of day take care: skilful, well-organised wallet-lifters and bag-snatchers operate here.
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Mezquita
Founded in 785, Córdoba’s gigantic mosque is an architectural hybrid that has experienced two big ‘modern’ changes: a 16th-century cathedral plonked right in the middle; and the closing of 19 once-important doorways, which would have filled the original Mezquita with light.
The main entrance is the Puerta del Perdón, a 14th-century Mudéjar gateway on Calle Cardenal Herrero, with the ticket office immediately inside. Beside the Puerta del Perdón is a 16th- and 17th- century tower built around the remains of the Mezquita’s minaret. Inside the gateway is the aptly named Patio de los Naranjos (Courtyard of the Orange Trees), originally the mosque’s ablutions courtyard,…
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Tomb of Christopher Columbus
Inside the cathedral's southern door stands the Tomb of Christopher Columbus, an elaborate monument dating from 1902 with four sepulchre-bearers representing the four kingdoms of Spain at the time of Columbus' 1492 voyage: Castile, León, Aragón and Navarra. But are the bones within really those of the great explorer?
The tomb holds bones brought back from the Caribbean in 1899 and long thought to be Columbus'. However, the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean claims that Columbus' bones lie beneath a monument in its capital, Santo Domingo. Since 2003 researchers have been conducting tests on various bones from the Seville cathedral tomb and elsewhere to try to resolve th…
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Capilla Real
The Royal Chapel, adjoining the cathedral, is Granada’s outstanding Christian building. Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand commissioned this elaborate Isabelline-Gothic-style mausoleum. It was not completed until 1521, hence their temporary interment in the Convento de San Francisco.
The monarchs lie in simple lead coffins in the crypt beneath their marble monuments in the chancel, which is enclosed by a stunning gilded wrought-iron screen created in 1520 by Bartolomé de Jaén. The sacristy contains a small but impressive museum with Ferdinand’s sword and Isabella’s sceptre, silver crown and personal art collection, which is mainly Flemish but also includes Botti…
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The Cathedral
For three centuries following the Reconquista (Reconquest) in 1236, the Mezquita remained largely unaltered save for minor modifications such as the Mudejar tiling added in the 1370s to the Mozarabic and Almohad Capilla Real (located nine bays north and one east of the mihrab, and now part of the cathedral).
In the 16th century King Carlos I gave permission (against the wishes of Córdoba's city council) for the centre of the Mezquita to be ripped out to allow construction of the Capilla Mayor (the altar area in the cathedral) and coro (choir).However, the king was not enamoured with the results and famously regretted: 'You have built what you or others might have built …
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Parque de María Luisa & Plaza de España
A large area south of the former tobacco factory (Antigua Fábrica de Tabacos) was transformed for Seville’s 1929 international fair, the Exposición Iberoamericana, when architects adorned it with fantastical buildings, many of them harking back to Seville’s past glory or imitating the native styles of Spain’s former colonies. In its midst you’ll find the large Parque de María Luisa, a living expression of Seville’s Moorish and Christian past.
Plaza de España, one of the city’s favourite relaxation spots, faces the park across Avenida de Isabel la Católica. Around it is the most grandiose of the 1929 buildings, a semicircular brick-and-tile confection featurin…
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Alcázar
Residence of many generations of kings and caliphs, the Alcázar is Seville’s answer to Granada’s Alhambra. It stands south of the cathedral across Plaza del Triunfo and is wheelchair accessible. This intriguing complex is intimately associated with the life and loves of the extraordinary Pedro I of Castilla (1350–69).
Originally founded as a fort for the Cordoban governors of Seville in 913, the Alcázar has been expanded and rebuilt many times in its 11 centuries of existence. The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, set up court here in the 1480s as they prepared for the conquest of Granada. Later rulers created the Alcázar’s lovely gardens.
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Cathedral
Seville’s immense cathedral, officially the biggest in the world, is awe-inspiring in its scale and sheer majesty. It stands on the site of the great 12th-century Almohad mosque, with the mosque’s minaret (the Giralda) still towering beside it. After Seville fell to the Christians in 1248 the mosque was used as a church until 1401. Then, in view of its decaying state, the church authorities decided to knock it down and start again. ‘Let us create such a building that future generations will take us for lunatics’, they decided (or so legend has it). The result is a cathedral measuring 126m long and 83m wide.
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Plaza de España
Plaza de España, a rather isolated and relaxing spot with its fountains and mini-canals, faces the northeastern side of Parque de María Luisa across Avenida de Isabel la Católica. Curving round the plaza is the most grandiose of the 1929 Exposición buildings, a brick-and-tile confection featuring Seville tilework at its gaudiest, with a map and historical scene for each Spanish province - all designed by the leading Iberoamericana architect, Sevillan Aníbal González.
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Monasterio de La Cartuja
An architectural gem stands 2km northwest of the city centre, reached by bus 8 from Gran Vía de Colón. La Cartuja Monastery was built between the 16th and 18th centuries and features a church bursting with gold, marble and sculptures and an exuberantly baroque sacristy.
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Corral del Carbon
The handsome, horseshoe-arched 14th-century Corral del Carbon was once an inn for coal dealers (hence its modern name, meaning Coal Yard). It houses a government-run crafts shop, Artespaña.
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Plaza Bib-Rambla
The large, popular Plaza Bib-Rambla has restaurants, flower stalls and a central fountain with statues of giants. This square was the scene of jousting, bullfights and Inquisition burnings.
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Plaza de Topete
A short walk northwest from the cathedral, this square is one of Cádiz's liveliest, bright with flower stalls and adjoining the large, animated Mercado Central (Central Market).
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Cathedral
The cavernous Gothic-Renaissance cathedral was begun in 1521 and directed by Diego de Siloé from 1528 to 1563. Work was not completed until the 18th century.
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Alcaicería
Just south of the Capilla Real, the Alcaicería was the Muslim silk exchange, but what you see now is a restoration after a 19th-century fire, filled with tourist shops.
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Palacio de los Leones
The Palacio de los Leones is one of the most stunning structures within the Alhambra, and according to some, the royal harem. It was built in the second half of the 14th century under Mohammed V, at the political and artistic peak of Granada's emirate. The rooms of the palace surround Alhambra's most popular symbol, the Patio de los Leones (Lion Courtyard), a marble fountain that channelled water through the mouths of 12 carved marble lions.
Carved especially for this palace, the fountain was originally brightly painted, chiefly in gold, but the originals are now being replaced by copies. The patio's four water channels, running to and from the central fountain, represent…
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Centro de Interpretación del Sacromonte
This wide-ranging ethnographic and environmental museum and arts centre is set in large grounds planted with all manner of herbs where you can also see art exhibitions and attend a herbal remedy workshop. Morning is the best time to see the artists at work. The centre has an outdoor flamenco music, dance and film programme on Wednesday and Friday from June to September.
It's difficult to see flamenco that's not geared to tourists but some shows are more authentic than others and attract Spaniards as well as foreigners. In summer the flamenco nights here are well worth catching. It also shows the gitanos' way of life and traditional crafts - metalwork, pottery, weaving, an…
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Palacio de Comares
This fabulous palacio was originally built by Emir Yusuf I, and thereafter served as the private residence for the ruler. It's built around the Patio de los Arrayanes (Patio of the Myrtles), and named after the hedges surrounding its rectangular pool and fountains. The rooms along the sides may have been quarters for the emir's many wives. Finely carved arches atop marble pillars form porticos at both ends of the patio.
Through the northern portico, inside the Torre de Comares (Comares Tower), is the Sala de la Barca (Hall of the Blessing) from the Arabic al-baraka for blessing, a word endlessly carved on the walls. This room leads into the square Salón de Comares (Comare…
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Basílica de la Macarena
Basílica de La Macarena, off Calle San Luis, is the home of Seville’s most revered Virgin and will give you a whiff of the fervour inspired by Semana Santa. The Virgen de la EsperanzaMacarena (Macarena Virgin of Hope), a magnificent statue adorned with a golden crown, lavish vestments, and five diamond-and-emerald brooches donated by a famous 20th-century matador, Joselito El Gallo, stands in splendour behind the main altarpiece. La Macarena, as she is commonly known, is the patron of bullfighters and Seville’s supreme representation of the grieving, yet hopeful, mother of Christ. The power of this fragile, beautiful statue is most evident in the wee hours of the mad…
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Patios
For centuries, Córdoba's beautiful leafy patios have provided shade during the searing heat of summer, a haven of peace and quiet, and a place to talk and entertain. They probably originated with the Romans, and the tradition was continued by the Arabs, with the happy addition of a central fountain.
In the first half of May, you'll notice 'Patio' signs in Córdoba's streets and alleys; this means that you're invited to view what is for the rest of the year hidden behind heavy wooden doors or wrought-iron gates. At this time of year, when new blooms proliferate, the patios are at their prettiest. Many patios participate in the annual Concurso de Patios Cordobéses, a compet…
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Bullring
In the world of bullfighting Seville’s bullring is the Old Trafford and Camp Nou of bullfighting. In other words, if you’re selected to fight here then you’ve made it. In addition to being regarded as a building of almost religious significance to fans, it’s also the oldest ring in Spain (building began in 1758) and it was here, along with the bullring at Ronda, that bullfighting on foot began in the 18th century. Interesting guided visits, in English and Spanish, take you into the ring and its museum. Should you want to catch a bullfight the season runs from Easter to October with fights most Sundays at around 7pm and every day during the Feria de Abril. Tickets,…
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