Travel Guide Granada

In the south-east of Andalusia, this city of more than 232,000 inhabitants is a jewel of history, flourishing at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, which will be discovered with similar pleasure, whatever the time of year. If it has known the Iberian, Carthaginian and Roman cultures, it was the conquest of the Zirid dynasty that marked the beginning of the kingdom of Granada in the 11th century. A period that saw the succession of several Muslim dynasties, Almoravids who integrated it into the kingdom of Al-andalus in 1090, then Almohades and Nasrid. That is why the arrival at what was once the Illiberis of the Romans is a moment of emotion, especially when you take the road that comes from the coast. You can then see the city by reaching the Suspiro del Moro, the Sigh of the Moor, the place where Boabdil, the last Moorish king of Granada, reportedly returned in 1492 and cried as he looked at his city and his wonderful palace of the Alhambra for the last time. Despite their attempts to turn it into a Christian city, the Catholic Monarchs, by building churches, convents and monasteries, could not make the very essence of Granada disappear, where a beautiful and sweet oriental atmosphere still reigns. It is undoubtedly the city of Spain most marked by Arab civilization since it was the last city on the Iberian Peninsula to be reconquered in 1492 and it experienced the last reign of Al-Andalus. It is to this period that it owes two of its jewels, the Alhambra and the Generalife, both classified as World Heritage Sites in 1984. Just like the Albacín district, in 1994, the other essential part of a visit to Granada. But beyond these essential visits, the city is home to many monuments or places that we will enjoy discovering. Visiting the cathedral or the capilla real housing the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs, walking in its carmens at the bottom of the Albaicín or the Realejo and multiplying the beautiful views of the city thanks to its many watchtowers. Or by enjoying the atmosphere of this university city, which sees more than 80,000 students pass through its fourteen faculties every year. Built on a plateau, at an altitude of 685 m, sheltered from the mountains, Granada enjoys a particular climate: it is cooler in summer than in the rest of Andalusia, but it is also colder in winter, even though the city experiences great temperature variations, ranging from a small zero in the morning in winter to a good 20 degrees in the afternoon sun. But its major asset is also its location, 30 km from the snow-covered slopes of the Sierra Nevada and 70 km from idleness on the beaches of the Costa Tropical. In other words, at certain times you can go skiing in the Sierra Nevada in the morning and have a drink on the Costa Tropical in the afternoon. Capital of the province of the same name, it also allows the discovery of impressive landscapes such as the Gorafe desert less than two hours from the city. But can we leave Granada without thinking of the most famous of the Grenadines, Frederico García Lorca, whose steps we will not fail to follow in the city of his heart by meditating on what he said: "Qué hacer dios mío, para sacudir a Granada del sopor mágico en que vive? "What can I do to shake Granada from the magical torpor in which she lives?" No doubt you will also fall under the spell of this magical torpor.