GUIDED VISIT TO THE Cathedral and Royal Chapel

Although some findings from Roman Age have been documented in the city of Granada, often identified with Iliberis, the truth is that it was the Arabs who proceeded to its final foundation in the 11th century, reaching its true zenith between the 13th and 14th centuries. It was the capital of the prosperous and cultured Nazari Kingdom, the last stronghold of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula.

Precisely for this reason, its conquest was the tremendous political goal of the Christian kings in medieval times, especially the Catholic Monarchs: Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. And after a decade of war, this occurred at the end of 1491 with the Capitulations signed by these and the last Granada king, Boabdil, the Boy, which became effective on January 2, 1492, the delivery of the keys to the Alhambra.

Since then, at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, decisions and events were aimed at establishing and settle the Christian faith. Mainly, the expulsion of the Jewish population with the Edict of Granada, the construction of Catholic temples, and, later, the subjugation of the Moors after the rebellion of the Alpujarras, in the middle of that century.

Thus, the commercial area of Granada Arabic was the place chosen by the new Christian population for settlement. And in it, the two places of interest arose on this guided tour: the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel of Granada. The second is attached to the first, although they are independent spaces.

The Royal Chapel is older than the Cathedral itself, as the Catholic Monarchs ordered its construction as a place of eternal rest and as a Catholic temple in 1504, before the cathedral project began, from 1506 onwards. A very symbolic location and not chosen at random: the Spanish monarchs wanted, in this way, to always remain linked to what they considered the outcome of their great work, that is, the end of the Reconquest.

And the same decision regarding his successor was taken, Philip the Handsome and Joanna I of Castile, called ‘la Loca’ controversially today and in whose name ruled the King-Emperor Charles I and V of Germany. Here also lies the prince Miguel da Paz, he died when he was young and when he had the titles of Crown Prince of Asturias and Portugal.