Traveling to Granada City: What to See and How to Discover It

First, it is worth reviewing the history of Granada. Its tourism is largely cultural, making constant mention of its Muslim past and the different civilizations that have inhabited its urban center. Therefore, to appreciate and admire every monument and place of interest, it is essential to put them into context.

The first inhabitants of what is now Granada were the Iberians, who built an oppidum or hillfort in the mid-7th century BC, forming an urban nucleus of about 5 hectares located on the San Nicolás hill called Ilturir. After Bastetani rule and Carthaginian influence, the period of Roman domination began in the late 2nd century BC, likely through a pact, later renamed Municipium Florentinum Iliberitanum or simply Florentia. It must have been an important city, although archaeological remains do not yet confirm this. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, it remained uninhabited at some point during the Early Middle Ages.

And so, depopulated, it also reached the early times of Arab rule: until the beginning of the 11th century, its oppidum was only used for military purposes, perhaps with a small hamlet in its surroundings. Even then, it was called Hisn Garnata, a name given by the Muslims and the origin of its current name.

1013 is the year of its refounding, during the era of the Taifa Kingdoms. It was the Zirids, specifically the first of them, Zawi ben Ziri, who abandoned the nearby and important Madinat Ilbira and settled in this Madinat Garnata, spreading through the Albaicín and remaining through the Berber period (Almohads and Almoravids, in the 12th and 13th centuries). But it was under the Nasrids, after the creation of the Kingdom of Granada in the mid-13th century, that the city was promoted and embellished. Under King Alhamar, the construction of the palatial city of the Alhambra began, continued primarily by his descendants, Muhammad II and Muhammad III. In total, there were six walled districts connected to each other.

And so, in broad terms, it remained until it passed into the hands of the Catholic Monarchs, the epilogue of the so-called Granada War, although the capture of the city on January 2, 1492, was the result of a negotiation process materialized in the Capitulations or Treaty of Granada. The initial conditions were generous to the people of Granada, allowing freedom of worship and respecting property, but they tightened significantly a few years later, with the conversion of mosques into churches, the expulsion of the Moriscos, book burnings, and other repressive measures. As we will see below when reviewing Granada’s attractions, the city’s tourism also revolves recurrently around this historical moment.

The admiration of successive kings and travelers for the existing buildings did not prevent a policy of asserting the new power and the new religion. Examples of this are some of the most representative constructions, such as the Cathedral, the Royal Chapel, or the Palace of Charles V in the heart of the Alhambra. The Albaicín also saw its urban layout modified during the Habsburg era, especially after the Morisco rebellion (1568), seeking reforms to improve security with wider spaces and broader streets. It was then that this famous neighborhood acquired its definitive image, with its “cármenes” and orchards. The 17th century, under the ‘Minor Habsburgs’, was a period of stagnation, with episodes of epidemics, the final expulsion of the Moriscos, and demographic decline to approximately 40,000 inhabitants.

The 18th century, by contrast, brought a respite and slight economic and demographic growth, with modern urban renewal projects such as the Paseo del Violón, and the explosion of a Baroque style that still dazzles those visiting Granada for tourism today. It was, in fact, one of the cities with the highest income, boasting top-tier institutions like the Royal Chancery or its prestigious University, and commercial activities that enjoyed good health, especially due to alliances with England.

However, the conflicts of the early 19th century took a toll on the city, which did not recover until the middle of the century, thanks in part to the arrival of the railway and the development of new industries, such as those linked to sugar beets. Some visible urban projects in the city date back to that time, such as the Gran Vía de Colón. But this growth and prosperity ended in the 1930s with social conflict, the material and human disasters of the war, and a harsh post-war period that placed the entire province at the bottom of Spain’s rankings. Furthermore, the developmentalism of the mid-century was evident in the destruction of important heritage and high-impact urbanization, building over the fertile plain (vega). Since the end of the 20th century, prospects have been more promising in Granada: tourism is increasingly popular, as are events in their various forms, encouraging the rehabilitation of buildings and the creation of new ones, such as the Conference Center.