Welcome to Granada!

Granada is a city in southern Spain, and is the capital of the region of Granada, in Andalusia, Andalusia whose name comes from Al-Andalus, the name that Muslims gave to the Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century.

With a history of more than 800 years of Moorish history in the region, the city is a mixture of Muslim and Catholic cultures, and both, nowadays, live side by side in the same city.

Most visitors come to the city to see the Alhambra - Alhambra, which means "the red one" in Arabic, coming from the full name "Qal'at al-hamra" ("Red Fortress", in allusion to its reddish bricks), It is a palace complex and fortress located in a dominant position on top of a wooded elevation, and it housed the monarch of the Nacherid dynasty and the court of the Kingdom of Granada.

The Alhambra is a walled city (medina) that occupies most of the La Sabika hill. Most of the complex was built mainly between 1248 and 1354, in the reigns of Muhammad first and his successors. 

Mohammed I, called Alamar (the red) for having a red beard, the founder of the Nacherid dynasty, was forced to flee to Shaém in order to avoid the persecution of Ferdinand III of Castile and his supporters during the attempt to liberate Spain from Moorish domain.

The Muslim rule of Granada came to an end in 1492, when the Nacerids were defeated by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, who took the surrounding region in an overwhelming way. After that date, the conquerors began to alter the architectural complex, with the Catholic Monarchs making the Alhambra a royal palace.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the Alhambra and the Generalife of Granada a World Heritage Site at its session on 2 November 1984.

Currently, the numerous hookah houses in Granada, as well as its Arab restaurants, are also fantastic.