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Granada  The walls of the Alhambra palace, Granada, Spain. The Alhambra was built as the fortified palace of the Moorish kings. It was partly demolished and rebuilt by Charles V in the 16th century, but still contains some fine medieval Islamic architecture. | Capital of Granada province in Andalusia, southern Spain, situated to the north of the Sierra Nevada mountain range on the confluence of the rivers Genil and Darro; population (2001 est) 243,300. Products include textiles, soap, and paper; there are also food industries and tourism. Granada has many palaces and monuments, including the Alhambra, a fortified hilltop palace built in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Moorish kings; a Gothic and Renaissance cathedral (1523–1703); and a university (1533). |
History Granada was the site of Elibyrge, a 5th-century BC Iberian settlement, that became the Roman settlement of Illiberis two centuries later. It was occupied by the Moors from the 8th century AD, and increased in importance after the fall of the caliphate of Córdoba in 1036. Mohammed ben Nasar founded the Nazarí dynasty in 1238, and Granada was the capital of an independent kingdom until 1492, when it became the last Moorish stronghold to surrender to the Spaniards. As such, Granada benefited during that period from a concentration of Moorish civilization that gave it great splendour and made it a centre of commerce, industry, science, and art. The city became an archiepiscopal see and, in 1531, the seat of the University of Granada. It was an important silk centre during the 17th century. | The Albaicin, a neighbourhood of narrow streets and whitewashed houses known as cármenes, is the old Moorish casbah, and is situated on the hill facing the Alhambra. The Sacromonte hill, to the north of the city, has a number of cave dwellings, former homes of Granada's large Romany population. |
| Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the first sovereigns of a united Spain, are buried in the 16th-century Capilla Real. |
| The city's name may have derived either from the Spanish granada, meaning ‘pomegranate’, a locally abundant fruit that appears on the city's coat of arms, or from its Moorish name, Karnattah (or Gharnatah), meaning ‘hill of strangers’. |
Granada| Capital of Granada department, south-central Nicaragua, the chief port of Lake Nicaragua, 50 km/31 mi southeast of the capital Managua; population (1995 est) 74,400. It is one of the country's major commercial and industrial centres, situated in a rich agricultural district producing cotton, sugar, and coffee. Chemicals are also among the city's products and the tourist industry is increasing in importance, helped by the proximity of Mombacho volcano and attractive lake islands such as Zapatera. Founded by the Spanish in 1523, Granada is the oldest and third-largest city in Nicaragua. It is linked by rail to the Pacific port of Corinto. Before the growth of Managua at the end of the 19th century, Granada was the leading city of Nicaragua. |
| Many colonial buildings survive, including the church ‘La Merced’, which was completed in 1781. |
Granada| Former Moorish kingdom in southern Spain, roughly the area occupied by the present provinces of Granada, Almería, and Málaga. It grew up around the city of Granada, founded by the Moors in the 8th century, and until 1236 was part of the territory of the caliph of Córdoba. In 1492 it was taken by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and incorporated within the new Spanish kingdom. With the capture of Granada, the Moorish power in Spain was finally extinguished; the last Moorish king, Boabdil, went into exile. |
Granada| Province of southern Spain in central Andalusia autonomous community; area 12,530 sq km/4,838 sq mi; population (2001 est) 791,700. The capital is Granada. Physical features include the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, a hot Mediterranean coastal plain, and a fertile elevated inland plain, the ‘Huerta de Granada’; tributaries of the Guadalquivir River flow through the province. The economy is predominantly agricultural, with cereals, sugarcane, and tobacco widely grown. Other produce includes olives, oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, and pomegranates. Principal industries are also agriculture-based, although there is some manufacturing in Granada city. Mining is important – there are lead mines in the Sierra de Gador, and the Marquesado de Zenete region is one of Spain's largest producers of iron ore. Tourism is a significant source of income for the area, especially on the Costa Tropical coastline. |
| The Sierra de Gador was the richest source of lead in the world during the 19th century. The Sierra Nevada mountains are home to the fertile Las Alpujarras region, and Mulhacén, which at a height of 3,478 m/11,410 ft is the highest peak on the Iberian peninsula. |
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