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Articles

Stories, history, and planning essays from Granada

Long-form editorial pieces written by resident correspondents — cultural deep-dives, food traditions, and practical planning essays for visiting the city.

View of the Albaicín hill in Granada at dusk from across the Río Darro, the ancient hill that was Roman Iliberis and Bastetani settlement, roman granada iliberis history

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Roman Granada: Iliberis and the Council of Elvira

James Walker

Granada was Roman Iliberis for over 700 years before the Moors arrived. The Council of Elvira, c. 306 AD, was the earliest church council in all of Hispania.

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Hall of the Two Sisters in the Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra, Granada, with muqarnas stalactite vault and arabesque stucco walls, built under Nasrid dynasty sultan Muhammad V

The Nasrid Dynasty: Granada's 260-Year Islamic Kingdom

James Walker

The Nasrids ruled Granada from 1232 to 1492, building the Alhambra while every other Moorish kingdom fell. Their story of diplomacy, art, and collapse.

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The Torre de la Vela of the Alhambra's Alcazaba at dusk, Granada, the tower where Ferdinand's standard was raised on 2 January 1492, marking the end of the Reconquista

The Reconquista and the Fall of Granada in 1492

James Walker

On 2 January 1492, Granada surrendered, ending 781 years of Moorish rule. The Reconquista, the siege of 1491, and the Granada Capitulations explained.

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Court of the Lions Alhambra Granada interior view, twelve white marble lion fountain in centre, 124 slender columns of the arcade receding in perspective, morning sidelight on muqarnas capitals

Court of the Lions Alhambra Granada: Decoding the Courtyard

James Walker

Court of the Lions, Alhambra Granada: 124 marble columns, a lion fountain 650 years old, a Quranic paradise built by Muhammad V. What to see and when.

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Interior view looking up into nasrid architecture muqarnas dome in the Hall of Two Sisters, Alhambra Granada, honeycomb of stucco mocárabe cells radiating from a central eight-pointed star, raking natural light

Nasrid Architecture: Muqarnas, Mocárabes, and Zellige Explained

James Walker

Muqarnas, mocárabes, zellige: the three techniques behind the Alhambra's ornament. What each is, how craftsmen made it, and where to see it in Granada.

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Entrance archway of the Aljibe del Rey medieval cistern in the Albaicín, Granada, Spain, whitewashed walls and narrow cobbled street catching warm late-afternoon light, the albaicin aljibes cisterns granada stone arch in close detail

Albaicín Aljibes: The Medieval Cisterns Under Granada's Streets

James Walker

Twenty-six medieval cisterns survive beneath the Albaicín, built 10th–15th centuries. Fed by the Acequia de Aynadamar from Alfacar into every home and mosque.

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The Court of the Myrtles reflecting pool in the Nasrid Palaces, Alhambra, Granada, a central element of the alhambra water system with the Comares Tower reflected in still water

The Alhambra's Water System: Engineering of the Nasrid Palaces

James Walker

The Alhambra's water system is a 760-year-old feat of engineering. Acequia Real aqueduct, fountain mechanics, and the theology of water in Nasrid design.

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Terraced garden of a carmen in the Albaicín, Granada: terracotta path, stone fountain, tall cypresses and flowering vines, with the Alhambra palace filling the opposite hillside — the cármenes Albaicín Granada typology at its most characteristic

Cármenes of the Albaicín: Granada's Walled Garden Houses

James Walker

Granada's cármenes are walled garden villas from Arabic karm (vineyard). Found across the Albaicín since the Nasrid period, two are open free to visitors.

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Exterior of Sacromonte cave houses in Granada, whitewashed facades cut into the Alhambra-Formation conglomerate hillside above the Darro River valley, with the Alhambra visible in the background

Cave houses of Sacromonte: how Granada carved its hillside

James Walker

Sacromonte's cave houses were dug from Alhambra conglomerate after 1492: Romani history, the 1963 floods, the museum, the abbey, and how to stay in one.

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Fajalauza ceramics Granada — hand-painted tin-glazed earthenware plates and bowls with cobalt blue pomegranate and bird motifs on white glaze, displayed at an Albaicín workshop

Fajalauza ceramics: Granada's 500-year pottery tradition

James Walker

Fajalauza ceramics are Granada's tin-glazed tradition since 1517. Cobalt blue, pomegranate motifs, and one Albaicín family still making each piece by hand.

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Exterior of the Huerta de San Vicente house-museum in Granada where Federico García Lorca wrote his major plays, white-painted Andalusian farmhouse surrounded by gardens in the Parque Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca and Granada: the city that made him

James Walker

Lorca wrote his major plays in Granada, was shot nearby in 1936, and his grave has never been found. His house-museum, the grave site, and how to visit.

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Narrow covered lanes of Granada's Alcaicería silk market with Moorish arches and colourful craft stalls, the historic trade district that once formed the centre of the Nasrid silk road economy

Granada Silk Road: the Alcaicería and Nasrid Silk Trade

James Walker

Granada's Alcaicería was the commercial heart of a silk empire. How Nasrid silk funded the Alhambra, reached Flanders, and was dismantled by decree after 1492.

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Rows of Trevélez ham legs hanging from beams inside a traditional Alpujarras secadero, shafts of light through ventilation slats, jamon de trevelez alpujarras IGP curing at altitude

Jamón de Trevélez and Alpujarras: altitude curing

James Walker

Jamón de Trevélez IGP: cured at 1,476m in the Alpujarras by cold mountain air, not salt. How the blue/red/black seals work and where to buy in Granada.

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