Visit Granada

Overview of Granada

Granada was first settled by native tribes in the prehistoric period, and was known as Ilbyr. When the Romans colonised southern Spain, they built their own city here and called it Illibris. The Arabs, invading the peninsula in the 8th century, gave it its current name of Granada. It was the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492, at the hands of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon.
The name Granada is ancient and mysterious. It may mean "great castle", for the Roman fortress which once stood on the Albaicin Hill. When the Moors came here, the town was largely inhabited by Jews, for which they called it Garnat-al-Yahud - Granada of the Jews. The Jews are said to have been one of the first peoples to settle in Spain, even before the Romans.

Costa Tropical

Granada is located just at the point where the Sierra Nevada mountains meet the fertile plain of the vega. Behind it are steep mountains and in front there is flat agricultural land. I suppose it was first inhabited and grew because it was easy to defend from behind and although it is dry in the summer there is always a supply of water coming from the mountain fuelled by melting snow, the rich soil in the Vega provided an ample food source. The altitude is 630 metres.
More than 320 sunny days each year and an average annual temperature of 20º Celsius turn Granada's Tropical Coast into a heavenly enclave. Light winds from North Africa, warm waters from the Mediterranean Sea and shelter provided by the nearby peaks of the Sierra Nevada give the Tropical Coast an Europe's unique subtropical microclimate.