Catedral de Granada, Granada, Spain and Canary IslandsGRANADA
An early start through the
mountains
This morning we got up on time
early at 7.20: so we could pack everything, get ready and be on the road, even
we were still not as early on the road as Gine planned đŸ˜Š.
Leaving the coast at 10 am with some glimpses of the sun we drove up north
through the mountains: with beautiful scenery – a lot of cool bridges and
something we were not so eager about: dark clouds and rain and snow-capped
mountains (that didn’t look really warm at all) and this is how we approached
Granada
Once it was the capital –
Granada:
- At the food of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
- For 800 years it was a Muslim kingdom: as where the rest of Spain got conquered by the Spanish in 1237 Cordoba and 1248 Seville: it took another 250 years before they conquered Granada and the Alhambra
- It happened under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel: in the same year the Jews and Moors were forced to leave Spain
- For some time, it was Spain’s grandest city
- Granada in Spanish means: Pomegranate which is also the Towns symbol: it symbolize that the city is open and fertile
- What is also very popular here is skiing – but we are not doing that part
Special permit driving in
Granada
Our place is in the middle of
the town and cars are not allowed to drive in, you need a special permit and
your car needs to be registered with the licence plate number for driving in.
As instructed, we put in Calle Elvira and drove through an old gate through
narrow roads into the old town until suddenly a bollard comes blocking the
road: we pressed the button and said that we are staying with Pension Alfin and
see there it lowered and now we can drive into the restricted area. At Plaza
Nueva we turn off into the correct road (because very important if you don’t
you will end up paying a fine). Up the narrow road: and there is our Pension.
After unloading the luggage, Paul goes with her and drives into a narrow
parking garage: safely tucked away for the next two days.
Our little historic room at
Pension Alfin
Our room is super!! You come in and
the floors and the walls of the staircase have beautiful colorful tiles.
Amazing wooden Doors, a tiny little patio. Upstairs super cool furniture and
there is the entrance to our little private room: cool window and doors a bed
that you feel like you stepped back in time. It is cool and it will really put
us in the mood for historical Granada (Even Paul said: and where is the beach?)
On tour in the old centro of
Granada
It’s very simple: it’s not far
to walk as we are right in the middle of it: down the street and we are at:
Plaza Nueva: an amazing
building the regional palace of justice and a fountain with a pomegranate, we
did not linger, but continue on some narrow roads and arrive a the:
Plaza de bib-Rambia:
before setting on for new adventure we have to settle down with a coffee and
during that Paul learns, that:
- We are in the center of the old Moorish Granada, and that after the reconquisita it was for a while the Moorish Ghetto
And now our two big highlights
of the day will start:
Cathedral of Granada
- The façade is based on a triumphal arch
- They started to built it in the early 1500s and finished it in the late 1700s
- The emphasize here is on Mary not Jesus: the façade declare Ave Maria: it was built during the time of counter reformation when the church was threatened by protestant Christians, Mary was more able to feel real for the Muslims as the Quran talks about here
- This is the 2nd largest church in Spain (we will later visit the largest one in Seville)
As we walked around (at the
beginning we didn’t realize on how big it is) we saw an entrance and thought
that is the entrance to the church so we entered and it was a super amazing
church for free: Gine later discovered after a bit of checking that this is the
Iglesia del Sagrario:
from 1704, it’s attached to the Cathedral of Granada. The church has an amazing
ceiling and lots of the niches have lots of gold on them – which is really
stunning with the light grey stone. We thought we were impressed and then as we
walked along we discovered that we are actually walking along the gigantic
cathedral of Granada and there was the entrance to it:
Cathedral: now we are
really impressed: this cathedral is huge and once you stand in the middle and
look to the main altar you can only look as there is so much to see and take
in, so we wonder around on the outside to admire the different chapels: each
one a piece of art, two amazing baroque organs, in the sacristy we saw more
amazing pictures and with the mirrors it is amazing by itself, back in the
church we came to where they kept some huge super old hand painted books: now
this absolutely fascinating to see those amazing books –especially for a book
lover like Gine to see those hand-painted old master pieces.
Back outside we went to
highlight #2 of today:
Capilla Real - Royal Chapel
of Granada
- This chapel houses the bodies of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand: their marriage united the Aragon and Castile kingdom
- Once King Ferdinand conquered Granada Boabdil handed the key over, Isabel decided to make Granada the capital of Spain and the burial place for Spanish royalty
The rule is no pictures – when
Gine tried to sneak a picture in, she got told if she tries again she has to
leave and the guard lady made sure it will not happen again: so what did we
see: the main Altar piece made of gold: you would need hours to look at
everything and figure it all out, but besides scenes of Jesus and John the
Baptist, John the Evangelist (after whom the chapel is dedicated) you can see
also the kings. In front of it are 2 gigantic marble tombs made of marble: they
are amazing – they say the death masks are considered accurate: one of is
Ferdinand and Isabel and the other is Philip the fair (who was king after
Ferdinand) and also Juana the mad (king after Philip died): there are a lot of
little things when you walk around them and look at them. Behind we could go
downstairs and there were the actually coffins: and now you have to imagine
they are 500 years old!!!
From here it goes into the
treasury: where we saw the Crown of Queen Isabel including her scepter and king
Ferdinands sword, her old prayerbook from 1492. On the wall behind glass were
some flags one of them is the original Christian army flag they raised over the
Alhambra in 1492 – a flag that is now over 500 years old. We have to keep those
memories in our head as we can’t look at them later.
Royal Chapel Square:
Coming outside we are on the
Royal Chapel Square: what is so unique about this one is, that on both ends
there is a huge gate which locks up the square at night. What is also cool here
is the “now townhall” or the Palacio de la Madraza: Paul had to touch is and no
it’s not real it is a 3D baroque style painted building.
The shops in La Alcaicera
As we continue on and walk into
some narrow alleyways with lots of shops, we walked write into the Alcaiceria:
- A horseshoe shaped gate is to enter the market: it was once the Moorish silk market with over 200 shops: here they sold silver, spices and yes silk. It had 10 armed gates and its own guards: this was a fortified market
- A fire in 1850 destroyed it: today this “authentic fake” rebuilt from the late 1800s is a tourist shopping market
Ok, I think we have to go back
here, if you think you can’t find souvenirs in Granada you have to come here:
here you get everything. The real funny part is, once we wanted to head back,
it is nearly impossible as you walk from one narrow lane to the next one and
each time you walk and you check on GPS you kind are still in the same corner
and you always end up at the Cathedral – I think over the course of the day we
approached the cathedral from all directions and walked through the Alcaicera
several times. If you look in a butchers store you can see the whole cow leg
(they are not cheap as we learned!! – We are talking about several hundred
dollars here)
We came by the Plaza Isabel la
Catolica: where the two grand boulevards
meet: a coffee break with people watching and I may should mention those super
cool street lights and also the statue of Isabel and Columbus: it shows his
contract with Isabel to discover and subdue islands and continents in the ocean
- In case you wonder why Queen Isabel paid for the voyages: she was driven by her desire to spread Catholism and Spain also needed an alternate route to the Orient spices after the Ottoman Empire cut off the tranditional overland routes.
- Isabel promised Columbus the ranks of Admiral of the Ocean and Governor of the New world as well as 1/8 of all he brought home. In the end Isabel died thinking Columbus found India or China and Columbus died poor.
Time out and Souvenir
shopping
We decided to have some downtime
and headed for our place: good thing as it started to rain and we have front
row seats where we can overlook the street and see the people walking by – but
we decided it’s more fun at the little square: especially when the sun is out –
sitting there watching people enjoying the sun, Gine walked towards the Santa
Ana plaza and along the river “Paseo de los Tristes)”: because it is the “walk
of the sad ones” as here was the route of funeral processions to the cemetery –
after it checking out the little church (yes it also was once a mosque) – with
lots of gold inside. We did also check out several souvenir shops, as they are
so much fun to look at. Finishing off our day in our cool “historic” place.
2025-05-22