Sights in Granada
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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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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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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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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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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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Granada's Cathedral
Granada's Cathedral is a cavernous Gothic and Renaissance building. Construction began in 1521 and lasted until the 18th century. It was directed from 1528 to 1563 by Renaissance pioneer Diego de Siloé, and the main façade on Plaza de las Pasiegas, with four heavy square buttresses forming three great arched bays, was designed in the 17th century by Alonso Cano.
De Siloé carved the statues on the lavish Puerta del Perdón on the northwestern façade, and much of the interior is also his work, including the gilded, painted and domed Capilla Mayor. The Catholic Monarchs at prayer (one above each side of the main altar) were carved by Pedro de Mena in the 17th century. Above…
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Generalife
The name Generalife means 'Architect's Garden', and this soothing composition of pathways, patios, pools, fountains, trimmed hedges, tall trees and, in season, flowers of every imaginable hue, is the perfect place to end an Alhambra visit.
The Muslim rulers' summer palace is in the corner furthest from the entrance. Within the palace, the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel) has a long pool framed by flowerbeds and 19th-century fountains, whose shapes sensuously echo the arched porticos at each end. Off this patio is the Jardín de la Sultana (Sultana's Garden), with the trunk of a 700-year-old cypress tree, where Abu al-Hasan supposedly caught his lover, Zoray…
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Gitanos
Fancy some fresh air? Then make your way up to the Sacromonte district (up Granada's sacred mountain) to the cave-dwelling neighbourhood of gitanos (Roma). Once deemed a danger to public order and still largely on society's margins except for the area of music (mainly flamenco), the gitanos probably started inhabiting the caves before the 14th century. General poverty made many poor peasants who'd come to live in Granada move to the caves in the 19th century.
To this day, 80 percent of the caves are inhabited, and you'd be surprised at how flashy some of them are. But be advised: don't accept invitations to look at a private house (unless you know the person) since a heft…
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Patio del Cuarto Dorado
You pass into this courtyard from the Mexuar, with a small fountain and the Cuarto Dorado (Golden Room) on the left. This patio was where the emirs would give audiences to their subjects. The Cuarto Dorado takes its name from its beautiful wooden ceiling, which was gilded and redecorated in the time of the Catholic Monarchs. On the other side of the patio is the entrance to the Palacio de Comares through a beautiful façade of glazed tiles, stucco and carved wood.
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Mexuar
This 14th-century room is the entrance to the palace. It was used as a ministerial council chamber and as an antechamber for those awaiting audiences with the emir. The public would generally not have been allowed beyond here. The chamber has been much altered; it was converted into a chapel in the 16th century, and now contains both Muslim and Christian motifs. At its far end overlooking the Río Darro is the small, lavishly decorated Oratorio (Prayer Room).
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Aljibe Baños Árabes
Granada has two Baños Árabes (Arabic baths) and a visit to one of these is a must for the sheer lazy pleasure of it. Both baths offer a similar deal: a bath and aromatherapy massage that last for two hours (bath 1hr 45min, massage 15min) and both need advance reservations. Swimwear is obligatory (you can rent it), towels are provided, and all sessions are mixed. The better of the pair is Aljibe Baños Árabes.
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Centro José Guerrero
The Centro José Guerrero is dedicated to the most celebrated artist to come out of Granada - abstract expressionist José Guerrero (1914-91), who was born in the city but found fame in New York in the 1950s. The centre exhibits good temporary shows as well as a permanent collection of Guerrero's dramatic and colourful canvases. It's well worth a visit. Located just along the street from La Madraza (in the university).
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Alcazaba
What remains of the Alcazaba is chiefly its ramparts and several towers, the most important and tallest being the Torre de la Vela (Watch Tower), with a narrow staircase leading to the top terrace, which has splendid views. The cross and banners of the Reconquista were raised here in January 1492. One of the Alhambra's many dungeons is set in the ground just inside the Alcazaba's eastern walls.
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Catedral
Adjoining the Capilla Real but entered separately from Gran Vía de Colón, 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. The main facade on Plaza de las Pasiegas, with four heavy buttresses forming three great arched bays, was designed in the 17th century by Alonso Cano.
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Torre de la Vela
The ramparts and several towers are all that remain of the citadel. The most important is the Torre de la Vela, with a winding staircase to its top terrace, which has splendid views. The cross and banners of the Reconquista were raised here in January 1492. In the past the tower's bell chimes controlled the irrigation system of Granada's fertile plain, the Vega.
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Monasterio de San Jerónimo
This 16th-century monastery, 500m west of the cathedral, is the burial place of El Gran Capitán (the Great Captain), Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the military right-hand man of the Catholic Monarchs. It’s a treat for fans of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and stone carving. The formal gardens are as beautiful in winter as in summer.
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San Jerónimo Monastery
This 16th-century monastery is the burial place of El Gran Capitán (the Great Captain), Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the military right-hand man of the Catholic Monarchs. It's a treat for fans of Gothic and Renaissance architecture and stone carving. The formal gardens are as beautiful in winter as in summer.
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