Letras de España: For all yall History buffs out there

I'm usually not a history person, but its so different when you're in a city so full of history. It makes the city seem so, I don't know, real, alive, and in a way, even more mysterious.

Let's start at the end.

Granada was the last Muslim capital/city in Andalucia (south of Spain). What's so amazing about this city is that it was basically the pearl of Andalucia. When the Christians started to take over Spain, all the Muslims flocked into this tiny city. It was so rich, so full of culture. And when the rest of Europe was going through its Dark Ages, it was at its Golden stage. The Arabs introduced so much to Spain, the architecture, literature, etiquette, food, and basically everything else. And for the longest time, this small city stood strong because it was protected by the Sierra Nevadas (which was also its water source).

View of the Albaycin (the city) from the Alhambra

The Albaycin was where the locals lived. And in Sacromonte (close to where our hostel was) were these caves that people used to live in. Because of the Sierre Nevadas, it was cold in the winter, so the Muslims dug caves because they were better insulated. Now, people live in it. I also went to one that was converted into a discotecha. SO COOL, now I can say I went caving.

View of the Alhambra

interesting fact about these towers. The first one was partly destroyed so the Christians tried to rebuild it when they came. So they found these random, perfectly square shaped stones with funny inscriptions that said for ex: "Mohammad, you were a loving father, etc etc". Turns out, they were gravestones and they couldn't read the writing because it was in arabic,

everything is detailed

stones going against their own nature, becoming plant life

After the Christians conquered Granada, they transformed all the mosques into churches. You can tell this was once a mosque because there is a fountain on the side. According to muslim religion, you had to cleanse yourself before you entered.

At the top of this church was this sign. Originally, it was just the 3 spheres which was the Muslim symbol declaring Islam to be the religion of the universe, but when the Christians came, Isabel stacked a cross on top. Blatant, yeah? It's almost like the Mezquita where they stabbed a chapel in the heart. Some say it's religious vandalism.

This was the room where Boabdil handed over the keys of the city (and cried like a baby) to Isabel and Fernando. This was 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Ironically, also the room where Isabel gave Columbus the grant to discover the Americas.

Another arab bath house. So while everyone in europe was dying from poverty and sickness, the arabs were spa-ing it up in their bath house. They had this whole intricate system to heat the floors, a vapor room, each room had different temperatures, it's crazy. Being clean was so important because its part of their religion to purify their bodies. So when the Christians came, they made everyone convert, or leave. One way to check if the muslims truly converted was to check their hands to see if they were clean. If they were clean, that meant that they were still practicing their religions. Basically back then, the Christians were a dirty bunch.