The Odyssey: Granada, etc

Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar & Tangier

These places are together in a single post because we visited them as a multi-day spur from Granada. We took the train from Granada past Ronda to the Mediterranean port city of Algeciras. The train ride through the mountains is considered one of

the most scenic in Spain. We saw a lot of scenery. Twice.

We stayed two nights in Algeciras taking a bus to Gibraltar, a ferry to Morocco, & the train to Ronda, one of the 'pueblos blancos', (staying for two nights), then on to Madrid for the final ten days of our month in sunny Spain.

Granada

The taking of Granada was the crowning achievement of the Reconquista. Fernando II and Isabella I wrested control of the Kingdom of Granada (and hence all of Spain) from the Moors in 1492 and moved their residence to Granada city.

Granada means 'pomegranate'.(It is the same root as 'grenade'.) The posts throughout the city (right) which keep cars off of the sidewalks are designed to resemble pomegranates.

"The Compact"

Isabel la Católica and Christopher Columbus

It was from Granada that Isabella gave her funds to Christopher Columbus (depicted in the statue above) to search for a shorter route to India by sailing west and it was from Granada that she issued orders to expel the Jews from Spain. (Isabella started the Spanish Inquisition a decade earlier while in Seville.)

Expelling the Jews and confiscating their property helped Ferdinand and Isabella pay for the Reconquista.

Isabella and Ferdinand are entombed in an elaborate chapel in Granada's Cathedral of the Incarnation. One is neither allowed to take photographs in their chapel nor spit on their caskets.

El Alhambra

The Alhambra fortress/palace was built for the last Moorish Emir of Granada. He didn't know that he was going to be the last emir at the time or he would have spent more of the money on building up his army. El Alhambra is Spain's most visited tourist site. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Fernando II and Isabella I were buried within the Alhambra until their chapel in the Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación in the city center was completed by their grandson Carlos V. [One may take photographs of the burial site, but still may not spit on it. But they have to catch you.]

The first sight of El Alhambra fortress/palace for visitors to Granada during Moorish times.

Entrance to El Alhambra Complex

Alcazaba, The Fortress which Guards El Alhambra

There was a small village inside the fortress.

At the top of the fortress tower.
There are good views from up here.

Palacios Nazaries / The Palace

To see these photos better, click on them.

To see more and better photos, click here

It's good to be the emir.

The lion fountain was a gift to the Emir from the Jewish community. It was also a clock. It indicated the hour by which lion spit water. According to our guidebook, when the Christians conquered Granada, they disassembled the fountain to learn how it works and it never worked again. As you can see by the construction debris in the above photo, the fountain was recently refurbished and reinstalled (shortly before our visit). We do not know if the fountain is back to telling time. And no one lives at the Alhambra, so no one really needs to know the time.

Almost every surface is covered with exquisite detail.

The Alhambra complex as seen from the new mosque across the ravine.
["Some day...."]

Also in the Alhambra complex:

The Palace of Emperor Carlos V

Palacio Generalife

And a church, two hotels & some shops.

The Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación

Constructed on the site of Granada's main mosque after the Reconquista, the Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación was one of the first Renaissance-style cathedrals. (It started out Gothic.) Ferdinand and Isabella are entombed here, but their elaborate Royal Chapel, part of the cathedral, is walled off and has a separate entrance from the outside.

Main entrance off the plaza (left)

Capilla Real entrance in the back (right) [No spitting allowed, at least not inside]

Two separate admission charges.

The cathedral is unusual for its stark white interior which was painted during an epidemic to show purity. Parishioners liked the brightness and kept the white after the plague ended.

Contrast this with a nearby church:

The white background was kept, but decorations added.

This statue of Yehuda ibn Tibon in the Albaicín, the oldest part of the city, with narrow, winding cobbled streets, is the only indication we saw that Granada once had a Jewish Quarter.

Scenes around town:

Gibraltar

A big rock...

...with monkeys.

It is part of Spain but belongs to Great Britain.

It's under discussion.

Morocco

We took a ferry from southern Spain to Morocco.

Scenes around Tangier

Ronda

One of the walled 'Pueblos Blancos' of the Andalusian mountains, Ronda is known for its scenic gorge, historic bullfighting stadium and the ashes of Orson Welles. There are a lot of historic old things there, too

There are several picturesque bridges in Ronda. This one connects the old city to the older city.

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Plaza de Toros

According to one of our guidebooks, the Jews and Arabs lived together outside of the village's wall. The Arab baths (above) indicated the area. No archeological evidence has been found to indicate that there were also Jewish residents.