More explorations of the wonderful Spanish city of Granada!
Granada is simply amazing. There are so many cool things I couldn’t fit it all in one post! I will be continuing on where I left off in my last post, the Cathedral of Granada and then more of Granada’s wonderfulness.
The Cathedral of Granada was built in the center of the old Muslim town center, on top of the former mosque. The cathedral was not begun until 1518, twenty-six years after the Catholic monarchs conquered the city from the Moors. Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II ended up entombed in the Royal Chapel here in the last city reconquered from the Moors. Since the cathedral was constructed so late, it’s one of the few Spanish Renaissance cathedrals in Spain. It was originally planned to be a Gothic cathedral, but it ended up being mostly Renaissance in the end, with a bit of Baroque mixed in.
There is another full-sized church built into the side of the cathedral, along with the Royal Chapel. The Iglesia del Sagrario was built in 1704. I have no idea why they needed another church right next to a bigger church. Normally a chapel would be attached to a cathedral, but this is a fully fledged church larger than many of the other churches in Granada.
Even the entrance seems like a normal church entrance.
Not a bad looking church to be honest.
The ceiling is just fantastic.
The Cathedral of Granada has a very interesting layout. It’s very boxy like a Moorish mosque but with huge apse in the back. It also has no choir blocking the view of the main altar from the front doors. There’s normally a wall right in front of the organs. It has a very open layout.
The very interesting Baroque facade of the Cathedral of Granada.
Traditional giant columns but in a more classical style than in a Gothic church. I think this is the only Spanish cathedral I visited where you could see the main altar from the main entrance of the church.
Soaring white columns in one of the aisles parallel to the nave.
Those are some organs.
Getting a peak at the gorgeous apse of the church.
That’s quite an altar. Found in a chapel.
A very fancy golden altar.
The area behind the altar is just gorgeous.
Liking this very much.
The sacristy is divided into two very fancy rooms.
To be honest, the mirrors are a bit weird.
That apse again.
That’s really something.
On the north side of Granada, one can find the wonderful Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, or simply La Cartuja, a Carthusian community. When it was built in the 16th century, the monastery would have been in the countryside outside of the city walls. Yeah, it’s gorgeous.
You enter the church via the cloister, complete in the Andalusian style with orange trees.
A simple, yet still lovely chapel off of the cloister.
The cloister was constructed in the 17th century in a very simple Baroque.
Just gorgeous. A screen separates the entrance of the chapel from the altar. The choir is beyond the screen.
I like the bits of color added around the altar. Choir stalls for the monks are along the walls.
And they are ridiculous. So fancy!
In an adjoining room is a reliquary. I think.
This monastery is just gorgeous.
The ridiculousness continues. This isn’t a chapel. It’s a freaking sacristy! This has got to be the fanciest dressing room ever created.
I needed a break from the ridiculousness. The Palacio Dar al-Horra, built in the 1400s, was the residence of a Moorish queen.
You can get some great views of Granada from the house’s tower. The Alhambra is there in the distance.
The Albayzin, the old city, was built up the hill in terraces of a sort.
The arches in this small house are all made out of carved stone or plaster. This may have been a bedroom with a sleeping area on that raised platform.
Afterwards, I went on a stroll through the Albayzin and found this special old Moorish building.
Many, many narrow streets in this part of the city.
The neighborhoods here are full of white or beige buildings, many centuries old and many with view of the Alhambra.
Most of the streets are still cobblestone and will often have a trash can or something else ugly near something cute.
Granada is just spectacular.
Calle Caldereria Nueva, a street with an old marketplace along it for several blocks. You used to be able to find neat, unique things here but now it seems every shop sells exactly the same stuff.
Another marketplace closer to the cathedral, La Alcaicería. It’s an old Arabic bazaar. I didn’t see anything special to buy but the design and layout of it was interesting.
Many of the normal souvenirs can be found here. I’m digging the arches and the building on the right.
And finally, the splendid entrance to the Corral del Carbón, a 14th century Moorish warehouse. It’s the only one of its kind that still survives in the Iberian Peninsula.
Granada is a splendid place to spend a few days. There are so many gorgeous churches and wonderful museums. In this and the last post I covered many of Granada’s gems, but there is still one left, the Alhambra.
Check out my next update where I explore Granada’s crown jewel, the Alhambra.
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
