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Granada, located in the southeast of Andalusia, stands at
the foot of Sierra Nevada before a wide, fertile plain watered
by the Darro and Genil rivers.
The first settlement in this region dates back to the 5th
century B.C. and in Roman times it was known by the name of
Ilíberis, which later changed to Elvira. It was later
dominated by Visigoths whose reign ended in the year 711 with
the Islamic conquest.
From their very arrival in Spain, the Moors settled in the
city. In 1013, the Zirie dynasty declared it an independent
kingdom, and the town underwent a period of expansion. For
two and a half centuries Granada experienced its era of maximum
splendour, becoming a symbol of economic, artistic and cultural
wealth. The main aim of its successive kings was to embellish
the city in ways that nobody could match. Its beauty is enhanced
by attractive constructions such as the Alhambra and the Generalife.
Granada was the last Islamic bastion in Spain and with King
Boabdil the Nasrid dynasty came to an end, when he handed
over the keys of the city to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492
and agreed the terms of surrender in Santa Fe.
From the city’s Arab past remain many monuments, quarters,
gardens, dozens of small squares or “plazas”, hidden
corners and fountains, which tell us of the spell cast by
a past history surrounded by legend. In contrast with Muslim
Granada are the Renaissance and Baroque areas of the Christian
era. The city is home to one of the country’s oldest
universities, whose students contribute to an animated cultural
and civil life.
Granada today constantly surprises the visitor with the contrast
between old and new, between areas such as the Albaicín
or the Alhambra, with their hidden corners which fill the
soul with peace and memories of times gone by, and the bustling
lower part of the city, full of life and colour, of people
coming and going, with its bars and shops.
A few kilometres away is one of Spain’s best ski resorts,
and at less than an hour’s journey is the Mediterranean,
with attractive, tropical beaches.
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