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There are few cities like Granada in the world.
It is not a city to be seen and enjoyed in a single day. Just the historical
monument complex of the Alhambra and the Generalife on its own demands a visit
of several hours to take in its captivating beauty. And visitors cannot leave
Granada without seeing the Catholic Monarch’s mausoleum inside the Royal
Chapel, the Cathedral, and the Science Park, Andalusia’s most frequently
visited museum.
The
surroundings of Santa Isabel la Real hotel, could not be
more interesting. The Albaycin area, is an old Arab
quarter on one of the two main hills of Granada, which
doesn't belong to the city of 19th-century buildings and
wide boulevards. It, and the surrounding gypsy caves of Sacromonte,
are holdovers from an older past. The Albaycin once flourished
as the residential section of the Moors, even after the city's reconquest, but it fell into decline when the Christians drove
them out. This narrow labyrinth of crooked streets escaped the
fate of much of Granada, which was torn down in the name of
progress. Fortunately it has been preserved, as have its
cisterns, fountains, plazas, whitewashed houses, villas, and the
decaying remnants of the old city gate. Here and there you can
catch a glimpse of a private patio filled with fountains and
plants, a traditional elegant way of life that continues. |
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