The Sacromonte neighborhood, a labyrinth of art in vein
THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE OTHERS
Not even the most twisted Mario Kart designer-programmer would imagine such a complex route to get here. If the Carrera del Darro is closed, drivers have to manage to cross the Albaicin , overcome the slope of Chapiz with screeching brakes, turn where a broom does not fit and head for the Sacromonte path. In the XXI century it seems to continue being that neighborhood left by the hand of God , of Allah or of the one who creates each one.
His story betrays him. Nomadic gypsy tribes of Indian origin settled here in the 16th century. Likewise, it is said that it was the home of those black slaves who abandoned their Nasrid lords when Boadbil 'The boy' he cried handing over the keys to Granada , some in search of freedom, others in search of the treasure that was said to be hidden among the olive trees. The fact is that its ravines and natural caves served to welcome the other Granadans. From then until today.
Recent decades speak of improvised street tablaos on the fly to impress tourists, of eighties heydays, nineties nightclubs and bad fame navajeras . Also of gypsies who have known how to take advantage of their flamenco veins to turn everything into a destination for tourists when night falls, with shows with the cold goblin and heels for sure.
However, getting to it still has that bit of anthropological adventure, that feeling that you are not in Granada, or that it is another Granada, or that Granada has grown behind the Valparaíso valley and the Darro gorge. A totally white, twisted and surprising suburb of the suburb.
Looking out over Sacromonte is a spectacle
THE FIND OF THE ABBEY
The last eastern end of Granada is this abbey that is located at the top of Sacromonte, as if he wanted to rule by sight the rest of the ravines . A somewhat pharaonic, disproportionate and soulless work that in the end becomes a pleasant surprise for the few visitors who do not succumb to the previous stops of the regular minibus lines. The welcome is an exposed brick arch that heralds a large façade with similar characteristics.
An impressive complex that was built in the middle of the 17th century, taking advantage of the excitement and fervor produced by the discovery of the remains of two martyrs and the Plúmbeos Books of Sacromonte , some false gospels that tried to combine Moorish beliefs with Christianity. In his day it was thought that they were true, that they had been revealed by the very virgin, nothing more and nothing less.
All this religious fever led to what can be enjoyed today: a set that wanted to be the Escorial of the south where no monastic room is missing and which has as a differentiating element the Holy Caves, some cavities converted into chapels where, according to popular Christian tradition, Saint Cecilio, Saint Tesiphon and Saint Hisicio were martyred. It is even said that in one of them, in Santiago, the apostle celebrated the first mass in Spain and that the Virgin appeared to him here (before in Zaragoza). Legends and beliefs aside, the Abbey is enjoyed for having been a true megalomaniac pot and for having a museum that, since 2010, shows a series of works by artists who lived in Granada as well as a series of quite curious incunabula and codices.
Sacromonte: pure flamenco art
THE ALHAMBRA + GRANADA
Turning your back on the abbey allows you to discover a view that is never boring. The Alhambra appears more distant, more fortified and, above all, more owner of her city . And this is the only point from which you can enjoy both jewels, the citadel and the cathedral, the Generalife and skyscrapers. It is not that it overshadows it at sunset from San Nicolás, but it does allow this 2X1 with which it is understood that the Nasrid kingdom I wasn't just looking for postcards with the Mulhacén in the background , but to dominate a fertile plain and dazzle the enemy with its aesthetic and military power.
CROSSES AND POTS
The return to the Way reveals a reality: the Sacromonte, by day, it's almost a ghost town . Few people live in it and strolling through it is sometimes living with emptiness and silence. However, this climate does not lessen the spectacular nature. The hermitage of the Holy Sepulcher and its Via Crucis are mandatory stops and elements that can be photographed in this calm environment that some may interpret as spiritual and others as badass. Fortunately, life appears with joy in other corners as in the Casa de la Sevillana, a homemade monument that stands out for being an isolated construction where the Horror vacui is demonstrated with dozens of pots hanging on its facade.
A new icon that its owners have taken with some joy, suggesting a tip for photographing her and even selling cold drinks by the window (with a sign with so many misspellings that it seems like another language) .
Views of the Alhambra from Sacromonte
A LIFE UNDERGROUND
In addition to the holy caves and those of revelry, the Sacromonte treasures an informative space dedicated to the cave life of its neighbors , a lifestyle that seems primitive but was in vogue until the seventies. The main objective of the ** Cuevas del Sacromonte Museum ** is to show everyone what this neighborhood was like a few decades ago and how its inhabitants had managed to live, work and enjoy in the underground cavities . Going through its different rooms, the visitor finds curious rooms won from the rock as well as craft workshops, stables and even forges.
A visit that is worthwhile to go back to the origins, discover how others managed and better understand the culture that was being generated here. Without leaving the top of the ravine appears the International School of Flamenco Manolete and its auditorium 'La prickly pear', probably the cultural space with the best views of the world.
Caves in Sacromonte
BY THE MIDDLE VEREA
Everyday life is touched with the fingers when zigzagging through the ravines that form the Sacromonte, leaving the asphalt and stepping on the cobblestone. In order to discover your current day-to-day life, it is best to walk through the Middle Verea , a pedestrian alley that goes over each boulevard and that gives, in its path, beautiful distant views and 100% native corners. Small squares like the poppy fountain and its tiled verses or the Nasrid walls.
Places that could be from the day before yesterday, but to which the don't feel so bad today . La Verea leads to the Albaicín, to which one reaches inadvertently and which is discovered thanks to the greater hustle and bustle. Of course, appearing, suddenly, in places like Aliatar no shame...
In Sacromonte, everyday life is touched with the fingers when zigzagging
THE ‘GOODBYE’ OF CHORROJUMO
Saying goodbye to this neighborhood along the Camino del Sacromonte is exchanging the beauty of routine for that of civil art. At its confluence with the Chapiz slope, interesting places are accumulated, such as Carmen de la Victoria, a typical suburban estate that is characterized by its beautiful orchard. Also noteworthy are the Chapiz houses, two 16th-century buildings built on an old Nasrid mansion that today house the schools of Arab studies.
The statue of squirt , a character castizo and extravagant from the 19th century who called himself king of the gypsies and who dedicated himself to tricking the tourists of that time with tales of the Alhambra, bids farewell to this walk through the wildest and most authentic Granada . It would be difficult to find a better 'goodbye'.
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Sacromonte neighborhood