Of old Granada, in truth, not much more remains than the buildings we have already named. We may glance at the tower of San Juan de los Reyes, so badly restored that its peculiar Moorish architecture, more markedly Eastern than that of any other Grenadine monument, has been almost entirely effaced. And in the old Casa de Ayuntamiento there are some historical curiosities, notably the original draft of the charter granted to Granada by the Catholic sovereigns, and the handsome official shield of the city. Many sites, such as the Plaza de Bibarrambla, commemorated in the songs and stories of old Spain, have been completely modernised. But there is a monument—a simple column surmounted by an iron cross—more deeply interesting than any reared by the Moors. The inscription on the pedestal records that on this spot, on May 26, 1831, Doña Mariana Pineda was publicly garroted at the age of thirty-two years. She died a martyr for liberty and a victim of the strange absolutist frenzy which did much to ruin Spain in Ferdinand VII.’s reign. Doña Mariana’s house had been a centre for liberal gatherings, and when raided by the police was found to contain a tricolour flag. She met her death with a courage worthy of her cause. Five years later, when the nation had recovered its sanity, her ashes were carried in state to the Ayuntamiento. The magistrate who had condemned her was in his turn executed. On the same site many Spanish patriots were shot by the French—their labour and their lives being given to replace Ferdinand VII. on the throne. The square, formerly called the Campillo, is now named after Mariana Pineda. You may see there her statue in marble, sculptured by Marna and Morales.
The hill called the Sacro Monte is a curious memorial of human credulity. In 1594 one Francisco Hernandez reported to the Archbishop Don Pedro Vaca de Castro that he had discovered the relics of several local martyrs in the caves here. A church of no architectural merit was raised on the spot, and became a place of pilgrimage—the evidence that the martyrs referred to had ever existed being meanwhile wanting. Within the church are preserved some leaden books, inscribed in Arabic characters, and supposed to contain the acts, of the saints. These works were the subject of a furious controversy in the seventeenth century. The caves are interesting on account of their natural peculiarities, and were quite probably catacombs used by the early Christians of Illiberis. Some rocks may be noticed, in parts worn away by the repeated kisses of devotees. There is a superstition that the person who kisses the stone the first time will marry within the year, and that a second kiss will ensure to those already married an early dissolution of the conjugal tie.
On the opposite side of the city, also in the outskirts, is a little Mohammedan oratory, now disfigured and restored beyond recognition. It is called the Ermita de San Sebastian, and was the place where Boabdil gave up the keys of Granada to Ferdinand and Isabel.
When we walk through the streets of the modern Granada, with its tawdry churches and commonplace private houses, it does not seem that the city has gained much by its change of masters. But its decline was not at least very marked till many years after the Reconquest. The French invasion, and still more the ruin of the silk industry, completely undermined the prosperity of the place. During the last century it lost its rank as the seat of a Captain General. But a new day is dawning for the proudest city of the Moor, as for all Spain. Granada is content no longer to brood over its splendid past; indeed, its citizens seem to prize but lightly the monuments of those days. There is a general appearance of wealth and elegance about the promenaders on the broad, well-lighted paseos; and, thanks to the newly introduced manufacturing industry of beetroot sugar, the Vega has already resumed the flourishing smiling aspect it wore when a Mohammedan amir called it his and the cry of the muezzin was heard from a hundred minarets.
PLAN OF GRANADA
REFERENCE TO PLAN OF GRANADA
BUILDINGS AND PLACES
| 1. | Hospital of San Lázaro. |
| 2. | Church of San Juan de Letran. |
| 3. | Hermitage of Santo Cristo de Yedra. |
| 4. | San Bruno and the Cartuja. |
| 5. | The Sacro Monte. |
| 6. | The Holy Tomb. |
| 7. | Cavalry Barracks, and San Jerónimo. |
| 8. | San Juan de Dios. |
| 9. | San Juan de Dios (Street). |
| 10. | Lunatic Asylum. |
| 11. | Bull Ring. (Plaza de Toros.) |
| 12. | San Ildefonso, and Avenue del Triunfo. |
| 13. | Pay Office. |
| 14. | Gate of Elvira. |
| 15. | Gate of Monaita. |
| 16. | San Andrés. |
| 17. | Children’s Hospital. |
| 18. | Office for Civil Affairs. |
| 19. | Santos Justo and Pastor. |
| 20. | Institute of Music. |
| 21. | Botanical Garden and Nunnery of Piety. |
| 22. | Square of Rull and Godines. |
| 23. | Convent of the Incarnation. |
| 24. | Santa Paula. |
| 25. | Elvira (Street). |
| 26. | San Jerónimo. |
| 27. | Orlando’s Balcony. |
| 28. | San Diego. |
| 29. | San Gregorio. |
| 30. | San Luis. |
| 31. | Arab Ramparts. |
| 32. | San Miguel the Greater. |
| 33. | Gate of the Standards. |
| 34. | El Salvador. |
| 35. | San José. |
| 36. | Convent of the Angel. |
| 37. | Ecclesiastical College. |
| 38. | The Cathedral. |
| 39. | High School and Palace of the Province of Granada. |
| 40. | School of Economics. |
| 41. | Market Place, and Palace of the Archbishop. |
| 42. | Court of First Instance (Plaza Rib-Rambla). |
| 43. | Convent of Augustines and La Magdalena. |
| 44. | House of Grace. |
| 45. | Puentezuelas (Bridge). |
| 46. | Square of Marshal Prim. |
| 47. | Town Hall. |
| 48. | Santa Teresa. |
| 49. | Convent of the Holy Spirit. |
| 50. | Military Office. |
| 51. | Carmelite Convent. |
| 52. | Hospital for Leprosy. |
| 53. | Santa Ana. |
| 54. | Santa Inés. |
| 55. | Convent of the Conception. |
| 56. | San Juan de los Reyes. |
| 57. | Ex-Convent of The Victory. |
| 58. | Watch-tower of the Alhambra (Torre de la Vela). |
| 59. | The Alhambra. |
| 60. | Gate of Las Granadas. |
| 61. | Gate of Judiciary Astrology (Judiciária). |
| 62. | The Generalife. |
| 63. | Gate of Hierro. |
| 64. | San Francisco (formerly Convent of St. Francis). |
| 65. | The Chair of the Moor (Silla del Moro). |
| 66. | The Tower of the Seven Storeys (Alhambra). |
| 67. | The Fountain of Expiation. |
| 68. | Gate of the Sun. |
| 69. | Convent of Santa Catalina. |
| 70. | Ecce Homo. |
| 71. | San Cecilio, and Military Hospital. |
| 73. | Santa Escolástica. |
| 74. | Capuchin Convent and Santa Maria Egipciaca. |
| 75. | San Anton. |
| 76. | Gas Works. |
| 77. | Public Shambles. |
| 78. | San Sebastián and Avenue del Violón. |
| 79. | Las Angustias. |
| 80. | El Salon. |
| 81. | Convent of Santiago. |
| 82. | Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts. |
| 83. | Monument of Mariana. |
| 84. | Artillery Barracks. |
| 85. | Principal Theatre (Plaza de Bailén). |
| 86. | New Square. |
| 87. | Zacatín. |
| 88. | Fish Market. |
| 89. | Church of Santiago. |
| 90. | San Nicolás. |
| 91. | Convent of Tomasas. |
| 92. | Bermeja Towers. |
| 93. | Palace of Charles V. |
| 94. | Gate of the Mills. |
| 95. | San Basil. |
| 96. | Recreation Grounds. |
| 97. | Cemetery. |
| 98. | Convent of San Bernado and Church of San Pedro. |
| 99. | San Bartolomé. |
| 100. | Avenue of San Basil. |
| 101. | San Cristóbal. |
| 102. | Hospital of Corpus Christi. |
| 103. | Santa Isabel la Real, and San Miguel the Less. |
| 104. | Santa Maria (Ancient Mosque of the Alhambra). |
| 105. | San Matías. |
| 106. | Gate of Fajalanza. |
| 107. | Méndez Nuñez (Street). |
GRANADA