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Welcome to Granada As the Christian Reconquista advanced, the Moors enclosed the city of Granada in layer upon layer of fortification.The citadel was bitterly contested until 1452 when Boabdil, its last Arab king, lost the city to the the Catholic rulers Fernando and Isabel.
Most of Granada's mosques were destroyed, but the spectacular Alhambra still attracts visitors from all over the world. It is one of the most important monuments in Spainand a UNESCO national heritage site. The beautiful whitewashed houses and the colourful flowers in the courtyards and on balconies are some of the things worth looking out for, as are the many sights of historic interest. Granada has a very lively flair thanks to the approx. 50.000 students of the local university. The city is quite near the beach and in winter you can ski in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
How to get
there
Aviaco flies to Granada every day from Madrid and
Barcelona, and three times a week from Valencia. Passengers
departing from any other airport can use the network of the
Iberia Group, which includes Aviaco, to connect with a Granada
flight.
By road, 432 km from Madrid, 126 km from
Malaga and 256 km from
Seville.
By train, 6 hours from Madrid and 4 hours from
Seville.
Climate and
location
Granada, the
capital of the province of the same name, lies at the foot of
the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the Autonomous Region of
Andalusia. It has an extreme climate, with temperatures above
40 degrees in summer and below zero in winter.
Hotels
Parador
Nacional de San Francisco. Tel: (958) 22 14 40. One of the
loveliest hotels in the Parador network. Located within the
precinct of the Alhambra, its gardens and views are literally
priceless.
Carmen. Acera del Darro, 62. Tel:
(958) 25 83 00. Situated in the center of Granada. It has a
comfortable terrace.
Washington Irving. Paseo
del Generalife, 2. Tel: (958) 22 75 50. This hotel, superbly
situated for the Alhambra and its surroundings, stands between
the summer and winter palaces built by the Arabs.
Alhambra Palace . Pena Partida, 2. Tel: (958)
22 14 68. Located on the same hill as the Alhambra, it has
excellent facilities and unbeatable views over the city and
its surrounding plain.
Reina Cristina. Tablas,
4. Tel: (958) 25 32 11. Centrally located near the cathedral,
this cozy hotel has three floors full of Andalusian flavor.
Once the home of the poet Luis Rosales, Federico Garcia Lorca
was arrested here.
Los Angeles . Cuesta
Escoriaza, 17. Tel: (958) 22 14 24. An inexpensive hotel with
a pool, at the start of the climb from the city center to the
Alhambra.
Granada Center. Avda. Fuente Nueva,
s/n. Tel: (958) 20 50 00. Modern and functional.
Hotels in Granada:
Cuisine
The typical dish of Granada is the Sacromonte omelet,
made of eggs, vegetables, brains and bull's testicles.
Visitors should order gazpacho in the summer, and potatoes a
lo pobre in winter.
Ruta del Veleta. Sierra Nevada
Road, 50. Cenes de la Vega. Possibly the best restaurant in
Granada. Good locally-produced ingredients, magnificently
cooked.
Alhacena de las Monjas. Plaza Padre Suarez, 5.
Tel: (958) 22 40 28. Delightful dining rooms with vaulted
ceilings in a 15th century house. Recreates the old recipes of
Al Andalus.
Las Tinajas. Martinez Campos, 17. Tel:
(958) 25 43 93. A classic establishment in the city center.
Good local cooking and rustic decor.
Mirador de
Moraima. Pianista Garcia Carrillo, 2. Tel: (958) 22 82 90. In
the heart of the Albaicin district, with gardens overlooking
the Alhambra and the city. One of the leading lights in the
drive to retrieve the cuisine of Al Andalus especially its
famous sweets.
Casa Juanillo. Camino del Monte, s/n. In
Sacromonte, with views over the Generalife and the Alhambra.
Flamenco artists and other personalities meet here. Unassuming
food and reasonable price.
Velazquez. Emilio Orozco,
1. Tel: (958) 28 01 09. Situated in the very center of
Granada. It has a good wine cellar.
Worth
visiting
The whole city is
a monument. Apart from the Arab edifices and walls, many of
the churches still bear the traces of the mosques they once
were, and there are countless other buildings of historic and
artistic interest.
The Alhambra and the
Generalife
The Royal palaces of the Nasrids are one of
the wonders of the world. The magnificent Palace of Charles V
is also worth a visit.
Sacromonte
A
legendary area of hillside caves inhabited by Gypsies, with
characteristic flamenco shows and beautiful views of the
Alhambra.
Albaicin
The oldest quarter, once
inhabited by Iberians, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs. The Plaza
Larga, San Miguel Bajo and San Nicolas are not to be missed.
El Realejo
The former Jewish quarter. Of
special interest are the gardens of Campo del Principe and the
so-called "Casa de los Tiros".
Casa de
Castril
It is a pleasing Renaissance palace that houses
the Archaeological Museum.
Cathedral
A
renaissance building by Diego de Siloe, with statues by Alonso
Cano, who also designed the facade. In the Royal Chapel is the
tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella.
The
Charterhouse
The crowing masterpiece of Spanish
Baroque. Well worth seeing is the sacristy, whose intricate
decoration took fifty years to complete.
La
Alpujarra
A rural area stretching from Sierra Nevada to
the sea. It contains over a hundred Moorish villages, whose
houses have flat roofs made of slate and gray clay.
Sierra Nevada
Many attractions of these
mountains, 30 kilometers from Granada, include magnificent
skiing facilities as well as the highest peak in the Iberian
Peninsula, Mulhacen. World Ski took place in
1996.
Montefrio
Small town picturesquely
situated, has a ruined Arab castle, an old church designed by
Diego de Siloe and a pacemaker of Spanish neoclassical
architecture Ventura Rodriguez.
Shopping
Fajalauza is one
of the loveliest varieties of pottery in Spain; its primitive
technique and forms and its blue, green and purple glazes are
of Moorish origin. another traditional handicraft is taracea,
which consists of inlaying wood with ivory, mother-of- pearl,
sea shells and bone. Along the steep Cuesta de Gomerez, there
are a lot of shops selling pottery and taracea. Also worth
visiting is the Alcaiceria, an old Arab market. La Alpujarra
produces superb woven cloth and patchwork.
Nightlife
The busiest area
at night is the area of Pedro Antonio de Alarcon, which has a
fair number of bars. There are good flamenco shows at Los
Jardines de Nepturno, Los Tarantos, Reina Mora, and the caves
of Sacromonte, which are very popular with tourists.
Useful addresses
Tourist Office. Plaza Mariana Pineda, 10. Tel: (958)
22 66 88.
Corral del Carbon, s/n. Tel: (958) 22 59 90.
Sierra Nevada Tourist Information. Tel: (958) 24 91
19.
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