GRANADA

GRANADA, the chief town of the province, and formerly capital of the kingdom, has sadly declined since the days of its Moorish masters, but still ranks as one of the larger cities of Spain. It lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, on and between two hills, the southernmost being the site of the famous Alhambra (q.v.), and is 2245 feet above sea-level, and 126 (by rail 179) miles E. by S. of Seville. It overlooks a fertile and extensive plain, and stands on the right bank of the Jenil, which is here joined by the Darro. The northern hill is occupied by the Albaicin, the oldest part of the town. The main part of the town lies in the plain to the west of this, on both sides of the Darro, which is here mostly arched over; and the wide suburbs of Elvira and Antiqueruela stretch farther to the west and north. The modern town is commonplace and dull, with wide streets, open squares, and many-windowed houses; but the old houses, with their flat roofs, turrets, many-coloured awnings, balconies, and fountains, preserve still a half oriental aspect, and the labyrinths of narrow, tortuous, ill-paved lanes that for the most part pass for streets here and there offer picturesque views. The chief centres of commercial activity are the old and handsome square known as the Vivarriba and the Zacatín, or old bazaar, a street which still retains much of the Moorish style. On the outskirts of the town there is a shady Alameda. Granada is the seat of an archbishop, and has a university (1531) attended by nearly 1000 students. The cathedral, begun in 1529, is profusely decorated with jaspers and coloured marbles, and contains the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of Philip I. and his consort Juana, fine specimens of Italian Renaissance sculpture, doubtfully attributed to Torrigiano. In the monastery of San Geronimo the 'Great Captain,' Gonzalvo di Cordova, is buried. The industry and trade of the town are inconsiderable. Pop. (1877) 76,108; (1887) 66,778. The modern city of Granada was founded by the Moors in the 8th century, not far from the ruins of an ancient Celtiberian town, Illiberis, and rapidly rose to distinction as a wealthy trading city and as a seat of arts and architecture. According to the common account, about 1350 the pop. numbered 200,000, and at the time of the Spanish conquest reached 400,000; the city was surrounded by a wall fortified with 1030 towers, contained 70 libraries, and was the seat of 50 schools of learning. But this is more or less legendary.—The etymology of Granada is doubtful, but the worst explanation is that which makes the name mean pomegranate. The Moors called it Karnattah or Karnattah-al-Yahoud—i.e. Granada of the Jews, to whom this quarter of the early town was given up, the Arabs retaining Illiberis, which they called Elvira. Karnattah possibly signifies the hill or city of strangers. See Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella (1837); Washington Irving's Conquest of Granada (1829); Lafuente y Alcantara, Historia de Granada (4 vols. Gran. 1843).