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| The Royal Chapel |
At the centre of Granada stands the Gothic Cathedral of Santa María de la Encarnación (1523-1703), containing the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real) with the tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella. In the northeast of the city is the Albaicín quarter, which is the oldest section of Granada. Albaicín is bounded on the south by the Darro River, and on the other side of the river is the hill upon which stands the famous Moorish palace, the Alhambra, as well as the Alcazaba fortress that guarded it and the Generalife, which was the summer palace of the Moorish sultans. South of the city centre is the administrative and commercial section of Granada, while to the west is the modern residential sector.
One of Spain's most frequently visited tourist centres, Granada contains many notable architectural and artistic monuments. The city is the seat of an archbishop, and it is dotted with fine Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical churches, convents, monasteries, hospitals, palaces, and mansions. The aforementioned cathedral at the city's centre is profusely ornamented with jasper and coloured marble, and its interior contains many fine paintings and sculptures by Alonso Cano.
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The Cartuja, or Carthusian monastery (1516), stands in the north of the city. Near the restored monastery of San Jerónimo (1492) is the University of Granada, which was founded in 1526 and received its charter in 1531; it is now housed in a former Jesuit college.
Min: 16C