We planned this trip so last minute that, that we wrote down the wrong hotel in our itinerary, arriving at the wrong establishment on our first evening. The check-in desk lady looked surprised, when we presented ourselves as new guests; she wasn’t expecting anyone that night. Luckily, we found the correct hotel and checked in after several hours of driving.
Iglesia de San Antón
As we explored Granada, we happened upon the Iglesia de San Antón. The church is a baroque church founded in 1534 by the Franciscan Terciaries.
It reminded me of the ornate Catholic churchs often seen in Rome.
The Resting Place of Royalty
Next we, explored the Royal Chapel, one of Granada’s most historically profound spaces. Here lie the remains of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs whose conquest of Granada in 1492 marked the end of nearly eight hundred years of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula.
Inside, a magnificent marble mausoleum sculpted by Florentine artist Domenico Fancelli depicts the monarchs in recumbent poses – Ferdinand in armour with his sword, Isabella in simple dress with her hands folded to symbolize humility.
The symbolism of their burial in Granada was deeply personal to Isabella; the city represented the culmination of her life’s obsession, the final Christian victory over the Islamic kingdoms that had ruled the Iberian Peninsula for centuries.
Adjacent to the Royal Chapel stands the Granada Cathedral, a grand Renaissance structure that dominates the city centre, and was built on the site of the city’s former mosque.
Artisanal Flavours of Granada
As we wandered through Granada’s narrower shopping streets, we discovered small artisanal shops selling local specialties that quickly became personal favourites. Candied nuts – pistachios, almonds, and walnuts coated in crystallized sugar – were impossible to resist, their nutty sweetness a perfect afternoon snack as we navigated cobblestone alleyways.
We also found Turkish delight, those jewel-like cubes of gelatin dusted with pistachios or coated in chocolate, a confection with roots stretching back through centuries of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern trade. These small shops, tucked away in corners we might have otherwise missed, represented the kind of authentic local commerce that rarely makes it into guidebooks – the sort of place where shopkeepers know their craft and take genuine pride in what they produce.
The Albaicín
We ventured into the Albaicín, Granada’s oldest neighbourhood, which occupies one of the city’s three main hills and feels like stepping back centuries into Islamic-era Granada. The Albaicín is immediately recognizable as distinct from modern Granada – its labyrinthine street layout, and narrow cobblestone alleys all follow the pattern established during the 11th century when the Zirid dynasty first settled here.
UNESCO designated the Albaicín a World Heritage Site in 1994, recognizing its rich legacy of vernacular Arab architecture harmoniously blended with Andalusian styles. Walking through these streets, the remains of the Alcazaba Cadima fortress walls, historic gates like the Puerta de las Pesas, and churches converted from mosques stand as reminders of Granada’s storied past.
During our exploration of the Albaicín, we stumbled upon a small artisanal perfume shop. Inside, the proprietor had created a compact museum documenting the historical methods of perfume production, with displays showing traditional distillation apparatus.
While exploring the narrow passageways of the Albaicín, we encountered spontaneous street performances featuring flamenco dancers. These artists, often performing in small groups, conveyed the raw emotion of flamenco with intense footwork, passionate hand clapping, and expressive movements.
Ascending to the Sacromonte Caves
We decided to walk from the Albaicín up to the Sacromonte caves, climbing further up the adjacent hill overlooking the city.
The neighbourhood gradually transformed as we ascended – the tightly packed streets gave way to buildings with whitewashed façades emerging directly from the hillside, with good viewpoints of the Alhambra.
Sacromonte Caves: Architecture and Living Conditions
The Sacromonte represents a profound chapter in Granada’s history linked to the Roma people, originating from South Asia but historically misidentified as Egyptians, hence the term “Gypsies.” Roma communities settled in the Sacromonte from the 16th century, living in the caves due to social exclusion and developing the flamenco tradition there.
We spotted fruit trees near the cave dwellings: pomegranates, and tangerines that would have provided sustenance. They also coexisted with animals within and around the caves.
The caves are architectural responses to environment and marginalization: whitewashing the limestone interiors with plaster to regulate temperatures through hot summers and cold winters. This cooling technique influenced nearby houses as well. Forced displacement in the mid-20th century due to natural disaster risk ended the community’s residence, turning the caves into tourist sites while the Roma were pushed out. Seems strange that now that they are gone, the government is earning money from their story – and not the Roma.
Walking the paths, the views of Albaicín below and the Alhambra above framed the neighbourhood’s complex history.
A Culinary Experiment
We dined at Atelier Casa de Comidas, a Michelin-recommended restaurant with an open kitchen near Granada’s centre. The tasting menu included some fascinating dishes that showcased a blend of local and innovative flavours. One starter featured tomate fermentado con caballa – fermented tomato paired with rich mackerel, that offered a fun texture with a balance of acidity and umami.
The menu also included a refreshing gazpacho anisado con quisquillas, an anise-flavoured cold tomato soup served with small shrimp, paired with a homemade green curry of arugula and the citrusy note of finger lime.
On the heartier side, gurullos con morro de ternera Pajuna y thermidor de cigalas paired beef snout and a rich sauce usually reserved for lobster, enhancing the seafood-meets-land narrative. The veal snout was mildly interesting, but not my preferred flavour profile, nor texture.
The main dish of lomo de jabalí curado en Koji y botánicos was wild boar loin cured in koji fungus and botanicals, served with saffron pear, and a Romaine sauce
Despite the refined technical execution and creative flavour pairings, we enjoyed the meal, but ultimately found the overall flavour profiles less aligned with our personal tastes.
The Alhambra Generalife Gardens
Our final day was devoted to the Alhambra, Granada’s UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture. We started at the Generalife gardens, the summer palace and pleasure grounds of the Nasrid emirs.
Meaning “Gardens of the Architect” or “Gardens of Paradise,” the Generalife features tiered terraces with flowers, and fruit trees – pomegranates, figs, citrus – and flowing water channels and fountains that create a cool, sensory landscape.
Water’s central role symbolizes life and paradise in Islamic art.
The Alhambra Nasrid Palace
Inside the Nasrid Palace of the Alhambra, intricate mosaic tiles formed geometric and calligraphic patterns.
The palace’s crown jewel is the Court of the Lions, with its marble fountain supported by twelve stone lions channeling water in four directions, representing paradise flowing to the world. The Alhambra’s advanced water system animates its fountains and pools, blending engineering with artistic expression.
Surrounding halls feature plaster honeycomb-like muqarnas vaulting, engineered to play with natural light dynamically throughout the day. These domes and vaults are built from thousands of small, modular plaster pieces that fit together like a complex three-dimensional puzzle. Each piece is precisely carved and assembled, allowing the ceiling to achieve both its structural integrity and intricate, stalactite-like appearance.
This technique is not only decorative but also serves as a unique architectural solution that distributes weight evenly and creates celestial effects as light filters through.
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