On Saturday morning we headed out to explore
Sacromonte, one of the barrios of the city, best known as the
gitano or gypsy neighborhood. Sacromonte gets its name from
Sacromonte Abbey, an abbey which stands at the top of
Mount Valparaiso. Valparaiso was the old name of Sacromonte. The name was changed to Sacromonte ("holy mountain") because of the holy relics of
San Cecilio which were allegedly found in the
Santas Cuevas (Holy Caves) in Valparaiso. San Cecilio also happens to be Granada's first bishop and patron Saint, and on his feast day there are huge celebrations most especially in Sacromonte.
It's quite easy to get to Sacromonte; the "entrance" is on the Camino del Sacromonte, and the start of the road is marked by a statue of Chorrohumo, who described himself as "King of the Gypsies." Chorrohumo was a gypsy patriarch who guided travelers around Sacromonte telling them stories of the gypsies and of the Alhambra.
 |
| Chorrohumo, the King of the Gypsies |
We walked uphill towards the heart of Sacromonte sticking as close to the walls as we could as every now and then cars would zoom down the narrow streets.
Right by the start of the Camino de Sacromonte I spotted this street art by
El Niño de las Pinturas.
Since Sacromonte lies atop a hill, it offers breathtaking views of the Alhambra and of the city. We stopped to marvel in the view, and take pictures, of course.
 |
| View of the Alhambra from Sacromonte |
 |
| Julie, Lyle, Me, Zed (+ a creeper) |
 |
| Julie, Lyle, Me, Ellisa |
 |
| Walking towards the heart of Sacromonte |
This gypsy neighborhood is also known for its whitewashed walls and cave houses, which originally appeared in the 16th century but actually only became popular in the 19th and 20th century when the city was expanding. There are different kinds of cave houses but the main idea is that they are built on the side of the hills and accessible from a small door from the road. Once you go in and there are a series of deep, interconnected excavated rooms.
Sacromonte is also believed to be one of the birth places of flamenco. We didn't watch a flamenco show but as we were walking, we could hear flamenco music playing from several bars and houses. The caves are known by the name of the artists who performed there. The one below for instance is named
"La Buleria" and the one in the picture after,
"La Zingara." These flamenco shows which are performed in caves are also called
zambra.
This one is not a cave house but a cute Spanish house nevertheless. It was decorated with lots of plates and pots (and asked for a small donation if you take pictures of it).
We continued walking up Sacromonte enjoying the view and relatively warm weather. Even in the "middle of nowhere" I'm still surprised by all the architecture left behind.
Our final destination was the
Abadía de Sacromonte itself which lies at the very top of the hill. It was quite a walk going up, but thankfully not too steep.
On one of the bend of the roads we had a great view of the snow-capped
Sierra Nevadas and the town below.
The Abbey of Sacromonte was built in the 17th century supposedly over Roman catacombs. It was in these caves that the relics of San Cecilio and eleven other holy men were supposedly found. The abbey now preserved these relics. It was a beautiful building but we were unfortunately unable to explore the inside.
We arrived just in time for siesta so the Abbey was actually closing, but I did manage to sneak a picture of the cloister before the lady ushered me out.
 |
| Cloister of the Abbey |
We rested instead outside the abbey and enjoyed the amazing view of Granada from there.
 |
| The Alhambra on the left and the city in the middle |
We ended our exploration of Sacromonte with a late but filling paella lunch at
Cueva de la Rocío. There are supposed to be some good flamenco shows here too, but that's an adventure for another day.
 |
| €5 for a heaping plate of paella + a drink |
Comments