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El Realejo
Even before the arrival of the Moors in the 8th century, the Jews had their own citadel on the left bank of the Darro. In fact, the Arabs first called the city "Garnata al-Yahud", Granada of the Jews. When the Christians took the city in 1492, anti-Jewish feeling was running so high that the Monarchs had their quarter razed to the ground.
In this quarter of Granada, at the foot of the southern tip of the Alhambra, lies the Campo del Príncipe, the "field of the Prince", a spacious plaza created by the Catholic Monarchs for the celebration of the wedding of their short-lived son Prince Juan. In the summertime it is a high point of Granada's night life, with many taverns serving drinks and tapas in the open air.
Just up the slope from the Campo del Príncipe is the pretty church of San Cecilio, patron saint of Granada. It is crowned, in this photo, by the flamboyant Hotel Alhambra Palace, built at the beginning of the 20th century by a wealthy aristocrat to lodge his friend King Alphonse XIII during their hunting parties.
The musical background for this page is a Sephardic song. In Hebrew, Spain is "Sepharad", and the Jews who after the expulsion were scattered throughout the world, especially in the lands of the Ottoman Empire, preserved their language - a medieval form of Spanish called Ladino - and their beautiful ballads as well.
GRANADA, CITY OF MY DREAMS, a book for the curious traveller, written and illustrated by Lorenzo Bohme and published by Editorial Natívola (2003) is now in its 3rd edition. To read about it and Nativola's other publications, click here.
