General information

The capital of the province of Granada has more than 237,000 inhabitants and is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains at 700 metres above sea level. The city has a continental mediterranean climate, which means it’s cold in winter and hot in summer, with temperatures rising above 35°. Among the famous persons who were born in Granada we find Federico Garcia Lorca, Fray Luis de Granada and Rafael Guillén. The inhabitants of Granada are called granadinos.

History

Granada has been inhabited since the time of the Iberos and was conquered by the Romans in 193 b.C. Like in all of Spain in that period the Visigoths arrived to defeat the Romans, but they were in turn defeated by the Arabs in 713. Under Arab reign the city became an important urban center for the province of Al-Andalus (the arab name for Andalusia). The entire period of Arab domination was filled with civil wars for control of the Arab empire and the kingdom of Córdoba and Granada in particular. In 1013 the Ziri dynasty came to power and the founded the kingdom of Granada, but the war for power in Córdoba continued. An important battle that took place on 16 July 1212 was the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The result of this battle was anarchy, until in 1232 the city was conquered by Almahar el Rojo, founder of the Nazarí dynasty, of which the last 20 sultans of Granada all originated. Granada became a very prosperous city, one of the most prosperous of Europe, with 50,000 inhabitants during the 15th century. Almahar ordered the construction of the Alhambra, but the Alhambra as we know it nowadays wasn’t built until the 17th century, and is one of the most characteristic buildings of the city. The noble people and artists of those days all lived in the Albaizín Quarter. With the reconquest of Spain complete the Real Chancillería de Ciudad real came to Granada in order to establish a presence of the Crown of Castilla south of the river Tajo. This was the beginning of an era of Christian reign and the city became a baroque and contrareformist bastion. Little by little the city developed into a modern city, industrious and urban. As a consequence the ugly but functional part of the city was built, big concrete buildings where nowadays about 70% of the inhabitants live.

What are you looking for in Granada?

• Monuments of Granada
• Restaurants in Granada
• Hotels in Granada
• Casas Rurales in Granada