Wednesday, November 19, 2025
We walked into Granada’s Old Town and followed Rick Steves’ Old Town Walk. Our first stop was Corral de Carbón, a former cravanserai. A caravanserai was a fortified inn providing shelter, food, and lodging for travelers, and stables for their animals. Merchants often carried valuable goods with them, and they needed the protection that a caravanserai offered. They were common along trade routes such as the “Silk Road.” At one time there were 14 caravanserais in Granada.
 |
| The courtyard of the caravanserai |
The Alcaicería was a bazaar and silk market. It had 10 armed, guarded gates. SIlk and spices were important trade goods. Today it is a warren of crowded shops selling cheap souvenirs.
 |
| A gate to the Alcaicería |
In Plaza de Bib-Rambla, we tried to imagine what it was like in this central town square in 1400, when 100,000 Muslims lived in Granada. Eventually, in the mid 1500’s, the Christians forced the Muslims and Jews to convert or leave. The plaza was enlarged and began to be used for Catholic processions. Now it is home to outdoor cafes and restaurants. |
| Neptune statue in Plaza de Bib-Rambla |
 |
| Along the side of the Granada Cathedral, built over a destroyed mosque |
The Palacio de la Madraza, a Quranic school before the Reconquista, has a typical Baroque facade. The faux grey “bricks” are just painted onto the walls. It became Granada’s City Hall.
|
 |
The Royal Chapel might be more interesting inside than the cathedral. It contains the Carrara marble tombs of Ferdinand and Isabel. Their faces are based on death masks. Underneath the marble you can see their actual coffins, which are quite plain
You can also see a painting of Boabdil giving the key to Granada to King Ferdinand. The lacy silver filigree work in the chapel is a style called Plateresque Gothic. It was interesting to see the box that Isabel is thought to have filled with jewels to give to bankers as collateral for the funds to be given to Columbus.
You can also see Isabel’s silver crown, decorated with pomegranates, her scepter, and Ferdinand’s sword. This pair created Spain by uniting Aragon and Castile. Their grandson, Charles V, became Holy Roman Emperor and ruled an enormous empire, covering most of Europe, as well as large portions of South America. |
 |
| The Royal Chapel |
We followed the route of the walk back to Plaza Nueva, a happening area with lots of taverns and restaurants, buskers, and tourists, and shuttle buses to the Albayzin. Another three minutes’ walk and we were back at our hotel, but we didn’t stop there long. We decided to return to the Mirador de San Nicolás to check out the sunset one last time.
From somewhere along the way we had a nice view of the fort inside the Alhambra complex. Four flags were flying from tower at the end of the complex: blue for the EU, green and white for Andalucía, red and yellow for Spain, and red and green for Granada. |
| The four flags that fly over Granada |
We decided to walk down from San Nicolás again, and try to find the restaurant that we had seen the other night. Then we had been too early and they were not open. Today, again, we were too early. But the walk was so enchanting that we didn’t mind.
Silk was produced in and exported from Granada until 1571, when the Moriscos were expelled from Spain. The Moriscos were former Muslims and their descendants in Spain who had converted to Christianity under duress. The silk industry in Granada was controlled by Moriscos.
“Granada” means “pomegranate” in Spanish. The pomegranate is the main symbol of the city of Granada. Images of pomegranates are found all over the city.
The Pomegranate Still Life Silk Scarf is by Emily Carter for Wolf & Badger.
Love the scarf….Shirley
ReplyDelete