Alcaicería (The Arab Market), Granada

The Arab Market preserves the memory of Granada’s great medieval commercial district. Its Spanish name derives from the Arabic al-qaysariyya, “the place of Caesar.” According to tradition, in the sixth century, Byzantine Emperor Justinian granted Arab merchants the exclusive right to make and sell silk within the Empire. In appreciation, they named their silk bazaars after Caesar, and the name eventually came to be associated with Arab markets.

Granada’s Alcaiceria was established in the 15th century and became the city’s principal silk market. Its maze of narrow streets and alleys contained more than 200 shops and stalls, specializing almost exclusively in precious silks. Iron gates closed the market to horsemen and were locked at night, creating a protected commercial quarter between New Square and Bib-Rambla Square.

The original market survived until 1843, when a devastating fire began in a shop selling matches and rapidly spread through the district. The replacement market is smaller and less elaborate, with cheaper materials, but its narrow passages and tightly packed shops still evoke the atmosphere of a traditional bazaar.

Walk along Zacatin Street away from Bib-Rambla Square and look along the left side of the street until you spot an archway topped by a plaque bearing the word “Alcaiceria.” Pass through it and stroll through the market’s shaded, tiled passageways, pausing beneath the Neo-Moorish horseshoe arches to admire the carved plasterwork and colorful glass lanterns suspended above the stalls.

Today, the market caters mainly to tourists, with souvenirs, knick-knacks, painted ceramics, and traditional wooden inlay work. Make sure to examine the artisan displays in the shopfronts to spot intricate taracea-traditional Granadan wood-and-bone marquetry.