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Photo: Paul Hermans, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Once the principal gate to the old city, Elvira's Gate now stands on the edge of a plaza, a grand Moorish-style archway over a local street.
The Gate of Elvira is an arch located in Granada, Spain. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1896. It is located at the beginning of Calle Elvira, on the edge of the Albaicín neighbourhood.
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Fuente del Triunfo
A beautiful urban park situated beneath the Hospital Real, the gardens hold a large fountain and an isolated column with a monument to the Virgin at the center overlooking the Avenida de La Constitucion. Evening is the best time to come, when the fountains are lit and the backdrop with the illuminated Hospital Real is most dramatic.
Commissioned in 1504 by Isabel and Ferdinand, this massive square red-brick building was originally used as a hospital for the poor and soldiers who had been injured in the Reconquista of Granada. Situated on a hill over a nearby park, the structure now belongs to the University and is worth looking inside for its splendid architecture.
A gorgeous example of the Baroque granadino style with an over-the-top interior—not an inch isn't lavishly decorated. The basilica is also the final resting place of many of Granada's saints: ask permission to climb the stairs to the room behind the main altar where 190 bones and other relics are displayed.
Monasterio San Jeronimo
The first monastery to be built in the city after the reconquest by the Christians, this monastery is noted for its picturesque courtyards, the Spanish Baroque-style sacristy and the splendid artwork on display.
Iglesia de San José
Located in a spot previously occupied by the Almorabitín, or mosque of morabites, and is one of the oldest churches in Granada, dating back to the sixteenth century. The architecture of the old mosque is still visible in parts, particularly in the minaret-turned-bell tower.
A small and shady plaza, this is the center of Albayzín for its residents, removed from the tourist crowds of the San Nicolas Viewpoint, surrounded by local shops and restaurants and home to a local market on Saturday mornings. On the west edge of the plaza, tucked around a corner, is Puerta Nueva, a passageway to Placeta de las Minas situated at the end of a remaining section of defensive wall which once protected the Albayzín. The wall itself is mostly inaccessible, but excellent views of the wall, which really speak to how imposing it must have looked from the outside, are available from the Mirador de San Cristobal uphill from Plaza Larga (alternatively you can just walk along Cuesta de Alhacaba west from Plaza Larga from excellent views from beneath the wall).