Granada

Granada was first settled by native tribes in the prehistoric period, and was known as Ilbyr.

When the Romans colonised southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. The Arabs, invading the peninsula in the 8th century, gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.

Granada is one of the pearls of Spain, most visited by tourists from all over the world. This long term capital of Moorish Andalucía occupies many buildings and monuments built during this period in Spanish history, with the world-famous "Alhambra" at the top of the list. To visit the Alhambra, you will need to buy a ticket in advance; call 00 34 915 37 91 78 from the UK or 902 22 44 60 in Spain; tickets can be purchased via www.alhambratickets.com or in any Spanish branch of BBVA bank.

It was Washington Irving's romantic Tales of the Alhambra (1832) that first put Granada on the tourist map, and the fabled hilltop palace now attracts over two million visitors a year, making it Spain's most-visited monument. It is certainly hard to resist this nostalgic testimony to the twilight years of the Moors' reign in Spain, with its seductive patios, delicate stucco work and dreamy Generalife gardens, but there is considerably more to this busy university city than the Alhambra, so be sure to investigate its lively nightlife, atmospheric streets and first-rate tapas.

The city of Granada has been shaped by the hills, where the old districts in the Albaicín and the Alhambra were founded, brimming with steep, narrow streets, beautiful nooks and crannies, and marvellous landscapes. The new part of the city is situated on the plain, crisscrossed by the large arteries of Gran Vía de Colón and Calle de los Reyes Católicos, and where the busy streets around the Cathedral are found.

Walk through beautiful gardens, charming narrow streets filled with flowers, sit down in one of those typical taverns to have some of that famous "Trevélez" ham and local wine, and breathe the centuries of history around you anywhere. There are gypsies singing "Flamenco", and don't miss to visit their famous "Cuevas" - caves - in the mountain of the monastery of Sacromonte where some of them really live still nowadays making magnificent artisans. Granada's popular festivals, based as well on Moorish as Christian tradition, are most attractive.

The city is located at the foot of the "Sierra Nevada", Spain's highest mountain-massif with great possibilities for winter-sports. The highest peak, "Mulhacén" arrives to 3478 metres. On the other hand it is not far from the Mediterranean Sea, so Granada is a great place to visit in any season.

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