Audio Guide: A Walk in Granada's Historical Old Town (Self Guided), Granada

American writer Washington Irving arrived at the Alhambra in 1829—and stayed for nearly three months. He became so concerned about visitors scratching their names into the monument that he and Prince Dolgorouki provided a leather-bound visitors’ book as an alternative.

Granada lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where the Darro and Genil rivers meet. Its history reaches back to an Iberian settlement that later became the Roman town of Iliberis. The story of medieval Granada, however, took shape after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began in 711 AD. Under Moorish rule, which lasted in parts of Spain for nearly eight centuries, a settlement known as Garnata al-Jahud, associated with a substantial Jewish community, developed alongside the emerging Islamic city.

Granada rose to prominence in the 11th century, when Zawi ibn Ziri established the Zirid Kingdom of Granada in 1013. The city’s name comes through the Arabic Gharnata, although its deeper origin remains uncertain.

Granada’s most celebrated period began in 1238, when Muhammad I founded the Nasrid dynasty. The city became the capital of the last Muslim kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula.

The centuries-long Christian Reconquest reached its conclusion here. On January 2, 1492, Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil, surrendered Granada to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

Walking through Granada’s historic center, visitors move from lively Bib-Rambla Square into the narrow lanes of the Arab Market, once the city’s silk market and still lined with small shops. Nearby, the monumental Granada Cathedral rises above streets shaped by centuries of Muslim and Christian history. Along the way, stone façades, shaded squares, tea shops, fountains, and glimpses of the surrounding hills reveal the layered character of this compact Andalusian city.

Today, Granada’s past remains visible in its palaces, former mosques, churches, cathedrals, historic neighborhoods, markets, and flamenco traditions, making the city a vivid meeting point of Islamic, Christian, Jewish, and modern Spanish culture. So, as you follow in Washington Irving’s footsteps, resist the urge to leave your mark on Granada’s walls—and let Granada leave its mark on you instead.