Granada:

Granada is probably the province of Andalucia with the widest choice for the visitor. It has a tropical coastline to the south and the Sierra Nevada National Park, the highest mountain range in Spain providing skiing in winter as well as outstanding nature reserves for all kinds of rural pursuits. Then, of course, there is Granada city, the former Moorish capital and the location of The Alhambra.

A stroll through the streets will enable you to take in the atmosphere and enchantment of Granada with its winding alleys and impressive buildings that tell of its distinctive history. It is a seductive city that people quickly fall in love with, even before knowing it thoroughly; yet when they do, that attachment only deepens.

La Alhambra:
The Alhambra, declared a World Heritage Site in 1984, is a palatial city on the Sabika hill, near the Darro river. Its name comes from the colour of its walls (Al-Hamra in Arabic) which were made using the clay found locally, and the reddish tint this gave the bricks.

The Moorish part of the complex is comprised of the Generalife gardens, the Nasrid Palaces, and the Alcazaba, or citadel. The Christians built the palace of Carlos V and the church of Santa María, built on the former mosque. The Nasrid Palaces are grouped together in an irregular way and the different rooms are connected by courtyards or passages. (More info.. )

Gardens of Generalife:
Derived from Yannat al-Arif, its name can mean the «garden of the Architect» as well as «noble garden».
This summer residence, built in 1319, is right in front of the Alhambra.
This palace of modest dimensions is surrounded by terraced gardens where water has an important place. Along the Cypress avenue, you will reach the new gardens which house the auditorium for the Festival of Music and Dance.
The buildings are arranged around the patio of the Acequia which has a narrow pool lengthways in its centre adorned by water jets and flanked by plants.
It is lined with two pavilions linked by a gallery from which the belvedere has an attractive view over the Alhambra.

Albaicin:
The town district known as Albaicín, declared a World Heritage Site in 1984, stretches over the hill between the calle de Elvira, the Plaza Nueva and the Carrera del Darro, to San Cristóbal. During the Moorish occupation, the Albaicín quarter was a group of different independent town centres, and it wasn’t until the modern period when it was considered a district as a whole.
The Albaicín originally extended to the northeast of the former Cadima Alcazaba Fortress. There are several versions as to where the name Albaicín originally came from. The most accepted one refers to an Arabic word used for the district of the falconers. It wasn’t until the late XV and the early XVI Century that the name referred to the small original area on the outskirts, and the entire district opposite the Alhambra.

Arab baths:
These baths used to be part of the Mosque of the Walnut Tree (Mezquita del Nogal) which previously stood here. They were built in the 11th century and are considered to be among the oldest and most complete baths in Spain. This was a traditional meeting for place for locals, who would come here for haircuts and massages. There were different times for men and women, who would seldom leave their homes (except for a weekly visit to the cemetery and a once or twice monthly visit to the baths). Brides-to-be would also come here before their weddings.

Alcaiceria:
Ancient Silk Market
Placed between the Cathedral and Reyes Católicos Street, it is the Granada shopping centre with more history. Centuries ago it was the Big Bazaar of Granada and the famous Nasrid silk market located from Plaza Nueva to Bib-Rambla. It took place until the night of July, 19th, in 1834, when it was burnt by a fire in one of the shops in Mesones street. Actually it is being rebuilt in neo-Moorish style, and specialising in selling traditional and handcraft products.

Cathedral:
The Cathedral of Granada is considered as the first Renaissance church of Spain and as one of the best examples of this movement. The Catholic Monarchs were the founders in 1492, and it was at first meant to copy the Gothic model of the Cathedral in Toledo.
In 1518, Diego de Siloé was entrusted with the project, and designed a new ground plan of the temple in the Spanish Renaissance style. Nearly two hundred years later, in 1704, the work was finished. Only one of the two towers of Siloé was built, and work was terminated after 57 metres instead of the original 81 metres. The main façade is a masterpiece of Baroque art by Alonso Cano in 1667.

Royal Chapel:
The Catholic Monarchs, who saw Granada as a symbol of unity of Spain and the Christian kingdom, ordered it to be built as their final resting place. It was built in Gothic-style from 1506 and was dedicated to the Saints John the Baptist and St John of the Gospel. The construction was finished in 1517 during the reign of Carlos V, who moved the mortal remains of his parents there, Juana la Loca and Felipe el Hermoso.
The chapel is a prime example of late Gothic style in the Renaissance period with only one exterior façade, as the other three sides are joined to the Cathedral, La Lonja or Market, and the tabernacle. The beautiful Plateresque façade is by Juan García de Prada. Inside, the main Gothic altarpiece, dated from 1522, and the royal burial tombs sculpted from Carrara marble, are particularly impressive.

Sacromonte:
Gypsy magic
There is no logic to Sacromonte, with its cave houses dug out of the legendary sacred mountain, the Monte Sacro del Valparaíso; mystery is more what defines this part of Granada that has been the inspiration behind so many poets’ verses, with its dense moon-like gardens of prickly pear and aloe. The chronicles tell us that the first settlers in this quarter were the gypsies who arrived with the Christian troops of the Catholic Monarchs, for whom they worked as metal craftsmen. Their song and dance merged with the Andalusí musical traditions and the dance of the zambra was born, an ancestral flamenco with steps based on the gypsy wedding dances.

Corral de Carbon:
This is the only Alhóndiga (public building for the buying and selling of wheat, wheat exchange) that survives out of three known examples in Granada. Built in the early XIV Century, it was an inn for merchants. The upper floor was used for accommodation and the lower one as a stable and storerooms. The pointed horseshoe arch with plant and epigraphic motif decorations on the façade is worthy of mention.
The building has been used for different purposes throughout the years, such as a theatre in the XVI Century, a tenement block in the XVI Century, and in the XVIII Century it was used as a coal warehouse.

Mirador de San Nicolas:
from the terrace of the church of St Nicholas, the view is superb: the red and ochre Alhambra stands out on the green hill and you can make out in the background the peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

Bill Clinton: The most beautiful sunset in my life from up here.