HISTORY

The origin of Granada is lost in time. There are a number of coins minted by the 'Turdulos' tribe in the V Century BC. The Romans arrived 500 years afterwards and founded the Ilíberis municipality. The legend says that Saint Cecilio set up his Episcopal see in the year 62 AD and Mohamed Ben Alhamar established the 'Nazarí' Kingdom of Granada in 1238.

During the following two and a half centuries, the city reached a high economic, cultural and artistic level, culminating with the gradual construction of the marvellous Alhambra, one of the most admired and visited monuments in the world.

The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragón entered Granada capital on 2nd January 1492, three months before signing the agreements that allowed the voyage of Christopher Columbus and the 'discovery' of America.

AN UNIVERSITY TOWN

Granada is a university town; almost a quarter of its 250,000 inhabitants study or teach in the illustrious old university, founded by the most European of the Spanish monarchs, the Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of Germany. This centre of study, founded in 1528, was inherited from the old Madraza, the Islamic University created by the Sultan Yusuf I, several centuries before. Since then the old streets of Granada always had a sense of youthful illusion and hope for the future.

GRANADA IS CULTURE

Granada is music: the city where Manuel de Falla wrote most of his work, where Andrés Segovia acquired his magical touch with the guitar and where the gypsies of the Sacromonte live their inimitable 'zambras' (gypsy spectacle typical of Sacromonte) in the caves that look onto the omnipresent Alhambra.

The musicality of Granada inspired the Mexican composer and poet Agustín Lara, to create the most famous of his compositions, the song 'Granada', official hymn of the city, translated and sung in every language and during all the large events by the best performers.

As a loyal reflection of all of this, Granada has been the venue, for 48 years now, of the International Festival for Music and Dance which every season offers a wide and select programme of concerts and spectacles, celebrated in the most beautiful corners of the city.

Granada is poetry, which decorates the amazing walls of the palaces of the Alhambra and soaks up the unmistakable memory of Federico García Lorca, born in a little village just outside and who spent his life and created his great works here.

Granada is a meeting point and universal centre for business meetings, for which the splendid Conference and Exhibition Centre offers its services, whose main hall has the capacity for two thousand people. People find modern hotels of all categories comfortable and to suit every pocket, with a quality of service born from the long experience in tourism.

Granada is life, happiness and hustle and bustle in the taverns and pubs within the areas of the city of the 'movida' (nightlife) such as the student area of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, the familiar Campo del Príncipe at the foot of the Alhambra or the exotic character of the Calderería with their tea houses full of oriental flavours and smells.

Granada is pure art. The Nazari Palaces of the Alhambra and the Generalife speak clearly of an Andalusian legacy, whose art of living had its maximum expression in these intricate walls. Arabic palaces and houses mark the city, mixed with great Baroque and Renaissance religious and civil buildings. The Cathedral, the Royal Chapel, with the tombs of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs and Cartuja, are examples of old art that compete with the modern Science Park, Manuel de Falla Auditorium, the Sports Stadium and Las Gabias golf course.

Granada is the Albayzín, an area of narrow streets and squares animated with the comings and goings of daily life. A lively and ancient part of the city, gifted with a powerful character that sublimates in its secluded 'carmens', its dungeons, monuments and above all its unforgettable views. From the 'mirador' or viewpoint of Saint Nicolás Square, the vision of the Alhambra that rises up on the hill opposite, has been an eternal fountain of inspiration of painters and photographers.

Reservation Charming accommodation in Granada