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| Saturday morning we departed Sevilla for Granada. As we drove along the highway, we saw row after row of olive trees along all the hillsides. With our arrival in Granada in the early afternoon, we had time to visit some sights before nightfall. With the sunny weather, the main plaza, Plaza Nueva, was alive with activity. Many college students were enjoying their school break in Granada. At times we felt like we were back in the era of the 60�s with the attire of many of the college students. |
| Granada was the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, lasting 250 years longer than any other Spanish city. In 1492, with the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, Spain became a united country. At this time, their desire to have Spain become a Catholic homogenous country resulted in the beginning of the Inquisition and the expulsion of both the Moors and Jews from Spain. Because of the important part that Granada played in the unification of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel had their royal chapel (Capilla Real) built here. At the front of this chapel rested their tombs plus also those of their daughter Juana and her husband Philip. After seeing this very lavish chapel we visited next-door the large Renaissance cathedral, the second-largest cathedral in Spain after Sevilla�s. As it was so cold inside both the chapel and cathedral, we didn�t linger long at either. |
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| Afterwards we took the city minibus up to the San Nicolas church viewpoint for a beautiful view of the Alhambra and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. When we arrived at the top, a festive atmosphere was already prevalent among the crowd of students and tourists. San Nicolas viewpoint was known as the place to be at sunset when the Alhambra supposedly glowed red. The Alhambra, the only Moorish palace fortress from the Middle Ages to remain intact in Europe, was now one of the main tourist attractions in Spain. Regrettably, the Alhambra on this evening didn�t glow red. On our way back down to the main plaza, we walked through the �tangled� lanes of the old Moorish quarter Albayzin. |
| Tomb of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel |
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