Granada Travel Guide

Granada is one of Spain's most spectacular historical World Heritage cities, and millions of tourists and international students visit this amazing city each year. Granada is located on one of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range and was a stronghold of the Nazeri Dynasty, the last great Moorish kingdom in Spain. Granada sprawls over two main hills, the Alhambra and the Albaicķn, and is crossed by two rivers, the Genil and the Darro. This former stronghold of Moorish Spain is full of romance and folklore. Furthermore, crowned by the Alhambra palace on its hill, Granada has been declared a national monument in virtue of its many well preserved remains of a rich alien culture and art and as the scene of great events in the history of Spain.

In fact, the Alhambra is one of the most famous items of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian historical legacy that makes Granada one of the most historic cities in Spain. Granada came to prominence in the 1200s at the peak of Muslim power. Even after Seville and Córdoba had fallen to the Catholic monarchs, Granada stood as the last surviving Islamic capital in Spain. It's where the sultans took their last stand against the Catholic invaders.

Granada is also well-known within Spain due to the prestigious University of Granada which, is said, that it is one of the three best cities for college students (the other two are Salamanca and Santiago de Compostela). An important cultural centre for centuries, both during Muslim and Christian rule, nowadays the city boasts an enviable calendar of cultural and leisure events. Music, cinema and theatre seasons and festivals are listed, along with permanent and temporary exhibitions ranging over all fields of knowledge.

However, you'll find in Granada not only the Alhambra. The Generalife summer palace, on the same Granadan hill, is known for its lush gardens with beautiful fountains and tranquil ponds. Also, the Sierra Nevada mountain range rises to the south of Granada and contains a ski resort with the highest peak in continental Spain, Mulhacén (3482 m).