Living in History

Each day here seems so different, simply because you are surrounded and immersed in history. One of our directors took a few of us on a tour of our neighborhood to fill us in on the history of the neighborhood we live in. We started our tour just outside the office doors at an old fountain. Little did we know that behind that fountain was one of the dozens of secret passageways leading outside of the Alhambra. I have walked past this fountain dozens of times by now and never would have know. Supposedly, when Napoleon had the city and the Alhambra surrounded, a soldier managed to escape outside of this secret passageway, allowing him to save the Alhambra from Napoleon and his forces. No where in the United States could I find somewhere with as much history... it is fascinating.

He walked us by one of the old houses lining the street called Casa de Tirros. It looks like many of the old buildings in the city, but has a rich history. Apparently, one of the head officials of the military in Spain during the 16th century lived in this house with his family. His son, who was to take his place fell in love with a gypsy. His father forbade him from marrying this woman, but the son persisted. The father went mad and murdered his son in the house so that he couldn't marry the gypsy. The father was so distraught after that he had all of his weapons removed from the house and plastered to the walls outside to declare his divorce from the military and violence. The house is now called Casa de Tirros, the house of the shots, and is a museum full of militaristic displays.

Walking down the street, a construction sight had been delayed at the discovery of two huge Roman pots. These pots were about the size of a cow and would have been used for baths at the time.

Located in the center of our neighborhood, is one of many large, old cathedrals. Isabella had it built during her reign, but the story as to why was fascinating. Before the catholics came in to Granada, Muslims, Jews and Christians all lived in harmony without much difficult. When the Catholics came they exiled anyone who wasn't a strict catholic; however, one day Isabella was walking the streets and heard a young girl singing a lovely song in a language she did not know and had her arrested. The young girl had been singing in Hebrew, which was forbidden and normally would have been executed because of it, but Isabella wanted to learn the song. The young girl lived the rest of her life in prison translating the song into spanish. Isabella told the jewish monks, still reciting hebrew, that no harm would come of them if they erected something to remind the people of the young girl, forever trapped in prison, crying. The church was built with a unique gargoyle placed on the front. The gargoyle was made to look like the young girls face and positioned so that whenever it rained, it would look as if the young girl was crying. In the end, the monks still won, seeing as that it hardly ever rains in Granada and the young girl is happy 350 days out of the year :)

He told us many other stories and legends that were truly fascinating. It amazes me that there is so much history surrounding me on a daily basis and makes me excited to explore the rest of the city. Our director wanted us to realize that there are so many things we'll never know unless we look for them ourselves. It was a great stroll throughout the neighborhood.

The picture is of Plaza de Isabella Catolica and shows Isabella giving Columbus the map of the world to depart on his voyage.... low and behold, the Americas :)