Central Granada and its architectural highlights

(13 reviews)

Granada audio tour: Central Granada and its architectural highlights

This is a 1.5mi walking tour

It takes an average of 120 mins to complete.

Granada

Spain

$11.99

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About the Tour

Granada’s Old Town is steeped in layer upon layer of fascinating history. Wandering through its cobbled lanes with an architect to guide you will open your eyes to hidden details that you might otherwise miss.

On this walking tour of central Granada with local architect and licensed guide, Manuel, you’ll hear about the city’s thousand-year-old past, and some of the notable people who lived here.

The tour starts in the historic Realejo neighborhood, next to Fuente de las Batallas, the well-known fountain in Plaza del Campillo. As you wander through Granada’s enchanting streets and vibrant squares, I’ll tell you about the origin of the city. I’ll also show you some of the heritage left by the Islamic Nasrid culture, in places like Convento de San Francisco Casa Grande (a convent in a former old mosque) and Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo, a heritage museum.

You’ll hear about some of the city’s most illustrious former residents, too. These include the writer Federico García Lorca and Mariana Pineda who fought for freedom and justice against Fernando VII, and is buried in Catedral de Granada (the cathedral of Granada).

As you make your way to the monastery where our walk ends, Monasterio de San Jerónimo, I’ll share a few insider tips about where you can stop for a tapa or two en route.

Along the way, you’ll also have a chance to:

Admire the enormous Gothic Royal Chapel of Granada, the burial place of the Catholic Monarchs
Spot details like motifs in the cobblestone, including an eagle with a shield, and a Y and an F (for Ysabel and Fernando)
See Corral del Carbón, the only warehouse still standing on the Iberian Peninsula
Pass Alcaiceria, named after the place where silk was traded in Al-Andalus’ medieval Islamic cities and, today, a craft market
Take in the burial place of ‘the Great Captain’ Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the main commander of the armies of the Catholic Monarchs

This audio walk is perfect for first-time visitors to Granada that want to get a panoramic perspective of the city and its history. It’ll also appeal to people who want to get off of the main drag and discover more than the usual spots in Granada.

Allow 2-2.5 hours so you can enjoy some of the recommended stops, both cultural and gastronomic! Let’s get going.

Tour Producer

WALKITECT

6 tours

Hello and welcome! I am Walkitect, a travel company born in Andalucia in Spain, that offers specialist tours by architects for curious travelers.

Together we will explore the cultural, historical and architectural depths inside the Andalusian cities. While following our audioguides you will discover at your own pace how cities like Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada or Málaga developed through time and ended up becoming what they are nowadays. In Walkitect we consider travelling as something holistic, so our tours are based on architecture, history and art but complimented with biographies of important characters or gastronomical, music or literature recommendations.

In our audio guides you will walk with Manuel, a spanish master architect, expert in Islamic and medieval construction and licenced official guide that has spent his whole professional life studying and working in the cities of Andalucia, from east to west.

In Walkitect we also make deep cultural specialist private tours in Malaga, Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla and Cádiz, so if you want to walk with us visit www.walkitect.net

If you are ready... ¡vamos!

Preview Location

Location 1

Start: Fuente de las Batallas

Hello and welcome to this tour through the city center of Granada. It is wonderful to meet you! My name is Manuel and I am the Walkitect. I will be your guide on this walk where we will visit the central area of a fascinating city: Granada. On this route, we'll visit monuments... Hello and welcome to this tour through the city center of Granada. It is wonderful to meet you! My name is Manuel and I am the Walkitect. I will be your guide on this walk where we will visit the central area of a fascinating city: Granada. On this route, we'll visit monuments such as Plaza Bibrambla, Corral del Carbón or the Cathedral.

You should be standing in front of a fountain in Batallas square, a big fountain in marble with sprinklers and diffusers. The city of Granada is full of ornamental fountains that usually belonged to convents and monasteries. In this case, this fountain belonged to a convent in the nearby Realejo neighborhood and was installed here in the 1800s. The fountain provides quite a water spectacle since, in addition to having traditional spouts, it has diffusers that create a very evocative mist. Isn't it?

Before we get going, let's spend a moment here. Take a seat, because we are going to understand a little about how this city started.

More than two thousand years ago by the hill of the Albaicin, a tiny Iberian settlement appeared, that later under the rule of the roman empire became a city known as Florentia Iliberritana. Sometimes people in Granada claim the Roman side of their history, but that Roman city that was not even close to the size of other cities in Andalusia such as Seville or Córdoba. Even with that, its strategic position made it the right place to establish industries of some relevance, such as a mint, to manufacture currency. However, since it establishment until the 11th century, although it had a strategical position, Granada is not politically relevant, since territorial power was mainly concentrated in western Andalusia. Only in the 11th century, Granada became for a short time the capital of a small independent kingdom.

However, from the 1200s onwards everything changes since that it the moment when the Ben Nasr family takes control of the southeastern area of the peninsula and thanks to certain deals with Castile establishes a kingdom that will change the course of history. In the year 1238 the Nasrid kingdom was born. The Nasrids established their capital in Granada, and began a period of cultural splendor that had as its crowning work a palatine city located on the Sabika hill, facing the Albaicin: The Alhambra. For 255 years, the Nasrid kingdom will be an icon of refinement and culture known all around the world until the internal crises of the 1400s led to the conquest of the kingdom by the Catholic kings in a year where many things happened: 1492.

Granada is the last Islamic city conquered in the Iberian Peninsula and as such, Isabel and Fernando begin a series of renovation works that will include the transformation of the Alhambra, the construction of churches, monasteries, civil buildings and two large projects: a gigantic cathedral and their own mausoleum. Their successor, King Charles I of Spain, continued these projects, but the successive Kings would not be interested in Granada, therefore the city will start its decline. It is in the 1800s when the romantic rediscovery provokes a new period of splendor. Today, Granada continues being a relevant city, cosmopolitan but unlike other capitals, it maintains a very strong personality inside its neighborhoods and streets, which of course we are going to explore.

But before leaving let's discover a bit of this square and fountain, with its strange name, Battle Square. This name does not come from any war that happened here.

To the right of the huge lindens on the nearby square, is a palace with salomonic marble columns. This is a type of column with its shaft twisted along it, pretty common in baroque style architecture.

This is Bib-Ataubin palace, the place where the troops or “batallones” used to be. These troops used to form and make parades right where we are, in this Plaza de las Batallas.

It's now time for us to get going, so let's get orientated.

If you look around, you will find a press kiosk close to the corner of the building that is on the side of the fountain in Batallas Square.

Go to the kiosk and you will find a small square with a small fountain. Walk past the fountain, keeping it on your left.

As you walk, let me briefly explain how VoiceMap works. It uses your location to play audio automatically at the right time and place. This means you can put your phone away. Don't worry if there are occasional periods of silence. There's a map on your screen if you feel lost and VoiceMap will let you know if you get too far off track. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

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Major Landmarks

Fuente de las Batallas
Plaza del Campillo
R .·. Logia Mariana de Pineda
Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo
Plaza de Santo Domingo
Plaza del Padre Suárez
Museo Casa de los Tiros
Convento de San Francisco - Casa Grande
Plaza Isabel La Católica
Dobla de Oro
Royal Chapel of Granada
Alcaicería
Catedral de Granada
Plaza de las Pasiegas
Plaza de Bib-Rambla
Centro Federico Garcia Lorca
Parque infantil la Romanilla
Parish of Ss. Justus and Pastor
Basílica de San Juan de Dios
Monasterio de San Jerónimo

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
C. Acera del Casino, 15, Centro, 18009 Granada, Spain
Total distance

2km
Final location
C. Rector López Argüeta, 9, Centro, 18001 Granada, Spain
Distance back to start location

979.99m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts by the fountain in Batallas Square, a few meters away from Puerta Real square. Parking APK2 Puerta Real is close by in case you come by car to the city, but be careful and don't entry the city center while driving!

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

During the tour some recommendations will be given to you, but if you want to visit monuments, we recommend you Corral del Carbón, Cuarto Real and the Cathedral and Royal Chapel complex. For a gastronomical stop consider visiting los Manueles in Plaza Bib-Rambla or by Monjas del Carmen street.

Best time of day

This tour can be done from dusk to dawn during the whole year. Is recommended between 10:00-17:00 for seeing most of the monuments open.

Precautions

You are walking in a new city, so although Granada is very safe, always keep your personal belongings close to you.

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”

Google Play Store

Questions and Reviews

4.7 / 5

13 Ratings

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Central Granada and its architectural highlights

About the Tour

Tour Producer

WALKITECT

Preview Location

Location 1

Start: Fuente de las Batallas

How VoiceMap Works

Major Landmarks

Fuente de las Batallas

Plaza del Campillo

R .·. Logia Mariana de Pineda

Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo

Plaza de Santo Domingo

Plaza del Padre Suárez

Museo Casa de los Tiros

Convento de San Francisco - Casa Grande

Plaza Isabel La Católica

Dobla de Oro

Royal Chapel of Granada

Alcaicería

Catedral de Granada

Plaza de las Pasiegas

Plaza de Bib-Rambla

Centro Federico Garcia Lorca

Parque infantil la Romanilla

Parish of Ss. Justus and Pastor

Basílica de San Juan de Dios

Monasterio de San Jerónimo