So it’s been another sunny, sunny day in Granada.
We started the day by heading into the lively, old Jewish quarter of Barrio Realejo to take a look at the colourful murals by El Niño de las Pinturas, and other graffiti artists.
We then strolled towards the Centro area and the Cathedral of Granada. It was wonderful to see how many artisan shops still exist with guitar and violin repairers, greengrocers, as well as cheese and charcuterie – a veritable collection of butchers, bakers and pie makers 🙂
It was great to see so many small shopkeepers instead of a Tesco Metro on every corner.
Arriving in the Cathedral area we stopped for a quick drink and tapa – a delicious small plate of potato, onion and grilled peppers – before heading to the 19th-century Jardín Botánico which forms a shady, city-centre oasis just next to Plaza de la Universidad. Among the plants grown here are wild species native to the Sierra Nevada, various herbs and 70 different large tree specimens.
We then headed over to the Cathedral of Granada passing musicians and entertainers on the way.
The Cathedral of Granada is a truly wonderful place to visit. It was built on the site of Granada’s former mosque between 1523 and 1704. The most emblematic space of the Cathedral, the Main Chapel, is home to the altar, where the Eucharist is celebrated. It’s not in vain that it’s considered the Grand Monstrance of Granada.
The main chapel is framed by a main arch that marks the space between the central nave and the circular interior environment. It is a representative feature of the Cathedral. Inside there is a baroque iconographic layout that Alonso Cano designed based on the primitive Renaissance design by Diego de Siloé. Like the entire cathedral, the main chapel is a synthesis of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
The central area tells the most relevant stories of the life of the Virgin Mary, known by the popular piety as “the seven joys of Mary.” It is a collection of canvases acclaimed as the best series of the life of the Virgin in the Spanish Baroque period.
We then spent a while wandering around the cathedral looking at the many altars and areas of worship using an excellent audio guide. It would be fair to say that we have never been in a cathedral with so much gold !
Then after all that walking it was time for a drink. And of course whilst in Spain we had to check out the local cava, which turned out to be perfect on such a hot day 🙂
We then decided to grab a late lunch/early dinner so we could head back up to the gardens of the Mezquita Mayor de Granada to try to catch the sunset over the Alhambra. As there wasn’t a cloud in the sky Odie didn’t hold out much hope – but it was still a lovely walk up and back down after which treated ourselves to an ice cream before calling it a day 😀
