Ruler Military Patron Castilian conquest & the Moriscos1492–1610

Charles V

Lived 1500–1558 (about 58 years)

Also known as: Emperor Charles V, Carlos V

Charles V was born on 24 February 1500 in the Prinsenhof of Ghent and died on 21 September 1558, aged 58. He was king of Spain as Charles I from 1516 to 1556 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 to 1556.

Granada enters his story through his marriage. After their wedding, Charles and Isabella of Portugal spent a long honeymoon at the Alhambra. He was so taken with the place that he decided to extend the palaces and build one of his own. Luis Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Mondéjar, was entrusted with the project and chose Pedro Machuca as architect; construction began around 1527. The palace was never used for the purpose it was built for, and nobody lived in it. It stayed without a roof for about three hundred years after 1637.

To see his trace, visit the Palace of Charles V, which today houses two museums, among them the Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada. The Royal Chapel of Granada flourished under his rule.

Places to see

Alhambra

Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón at dusk, students on bar terraces, Granada university quarter

Universidad

Dappled light through the elm and oak canopy of the Bosque de la Alhambra, Granada, with the Pilar de Carlos V fountain on the cobbled path

Bosque Alhambra Forest Walk

Tree-lined Cuesta de Gomérez avenue in Granada leading up toward the Puerta de las Granadas arch

Cuesta de Gomérez — Historic Approach to the Alhambra

In their time

Castilian conquest & the Moriscos

1492–1610
Boabdil handed Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella on 2 January 1492, after a siege whose camp became the town of Santa Fe. Enrique Egas drew a Gothic plan for the cathedral in 1518 and building began in 1523. Diego de Siloé, master builder from 1529, changed it into Spain's first fully Renaissance cathedral, with a circular capilla mayor.
1. Monastery of San Jerónimo
  
  1504 Monument
  
  San Jerónimo holds the tomb of the Great Captain in a Renaissance church completed in 1522, with a carved altarpiece and gilded ceilings of exceptional quality.
2. Royal Chapel of Granada
  
  1504 Monument
  
  Isabelline Gothic chapel with the tombs of Isabella I and Ferdinand II. The sacristy holds royal regalia and paintings by Memling, Botticelli, and Bouts.
3. Monasterio de la Cartuja
  
  1516 Monument
  
  Founded in 1516 by El Gran Capitán, La Cartuja's sacristy is one of Spain's most ornate Baroque spaces — marble inlay, gilded altars, and near-total silence.
4. Granada Cathedral
  
  1523 Monument
  
  Granada Cathedral in Spain took 181 years to build from 1523, blending Gothic foundations with a Renaissance interior of five naves and a gilded dome chapel.
5. Mirador de San Nicolás
  
  1525 Monument
  
  Free 24-hour viewpoint in the Albaicín with unobstructed Alhambra views and the Sierra Nevada as backdrop. Crowds peak at sunset; early morning is far quieter.
6. Hernando de Talavera
  
  c. 1430–1507 Historical figure
  
  Hernando de Talavera, Isabella's confessor, became Granada's first archbishop in 1493. He learned Arabic himself and encouraged his clergy to do the same.
7. Count of Tendilla
  
  c. 1440–1515 Historical figure
  
  Íñigo López de Mendoza, Count of Tendilla, governed the Alhambra from 1492 and died in 1515. Find his trace on the Alhambra hill and what to read next.
8. Isabella I
  
  1451–1504 Historical figure
  
  Isabella I of Castile, queen 1474–1504, chose Granada for her tomb in 1504. Her life in brief and where her trace survives in the Royal Chapel and the city.
9. Ferdinand II of Aragon
  
  1452–1516 Historical figure
  
  Ferdinand II of Aragon co-ruled with Queen Isabella through the Granada War, which ended on 2 January 1492, and is buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada.
10. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
  
  1453–1515 Historical figure
  
  Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Gran Capitán, helped arrange Granada's surrender in 1492 and died near the city in 1515. Where his trace remains in Granada.
Go deeper
- Conquest and Moriscos