Our first stop today was the tourist information office that we purchased the Alhambra tickets from to make sure we have them for tomorrows visit, it actually turned out to be very simple to collect them and they include entrance to a couple of other things so we need to see if we are planning to go into these. They have changed the Alhambra visit criteria and you can now visit for the whole day whereas in the past it was either morning or afternoon, so although our visit to the Nasrid Palace isn’t until 4pm we can spend the day in the area. Our next stop was tourist information to see if they have a walk of the historic district as we have seen boards providing information dotted around the city, but they suggested we try the other tourist information – while in the UK it had seemed like there was one tourist information run by the Chamber of Commerce and one by the local council so we set off in search of that. This is right next to the Cathedral and she provided us with a good map but sent us somewhere else again to try and get the details of the plaques. We decided that we would visit the Cathedral as we were right next door to it and I have to say it was well worth the entrance fee. The Cathedral was built by express order of Queen Isabell and work began in 1528. It is considered to be one of the finest Renaissance religious buildings in Spain. It was finally completed in 1704 when it was inaugurated. It is an amazing building both very plain and elaborate at the same time. There are a collection of choir books from the mid 1700’s and the stained glass windows are quite spectacular. After we finished looking round we set off for our third tourist information centre, unfortunately they suggested we try another one which is owned by the company that put up the signs, so we decided to give up on that and just use the information I had pulled together in the UK so we set off in the direction of the hotel to start the walk I had planned. The first stop on my tour was the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, which to be honest at first I thought was the monastery but was definitely the hospital, it is very run down and I think if you have to visit it might be a little disconcerting especially if the building is representative of the treatment you receive. The hospital was built in 1504 and was originally for the disadvantaged, there are two courtyards which I am sure in their day were very relaxing, but now just seem to be in great need of renovation! We walked round both courtyards, the second is in better condition than the first, and met a few people that seemed to have their arms in slings who were obviously there for treatment! The building has had many uses over time, in 1511 it was used as a hospital for the poor pilgrims and soldiers who were injured during the conquest of Granada, from 1536 it was used as a prison for the insane and much later was used to treat people suffering from the effects of venereal diseases especially syphilis which was rife at the time. From here we walked to the Monastery of San Jeronimo which again was really worth the entrance fee, this is a monastery built around a courtyard and has the most spectacular church within the compound, very different to the cathedral as it is very ornate and almost overwhelming especially as you enter this having just left the refectory which is very plain. By the time we finished looking round this it was 1.30 and as it is summer everything was closing so we decided to have some lunch after which we would return to the hotel for a relax before heading out again late afternoon / early evening to see the rest of the sights. We set off about 5pm and decided to try and complete the walk and finish seeing the sights so we turned left out of the hotel this time and set off in search of the Royal Hospital this is on the top of the hill and has a very nice small park in front of it. The hospital was founded in 1504 and is now the home of the University Rectory, the roads in this area have a number of grand houses but they are quite hidden from passers by! We walked down the road to the Hospital and Church of San Juan de Dios another building well worth the entrance fee, we were given audio guides which explained the various parts of the Church which was built on the original site of the Monastery of San Jeronimo. The main church was spectacular, the audio guide talked you through each of the shrines and alters that surround the walls then got you to turn around and look at the main nave which is incredibly stunning, you can pay 1 euro to light up the nave which is worth it as you can’t see the details unless you do, once we had finished walking round the ground floor you can go up to look down on the nave but we couldn’t get the door to open, a bit of perseverance and knocking finally got the woman who was guarding this area to open the door which meant that we were followed through by a number of other couples. It was well worth the climb as you have a fantastic view over the whole Church, we spent some time walking around this then finally came down and left the church. From here we walked back to the Cathedral and had planned to go into the Royal Chapel but unfortunately by the time we had got back it had closed. So we walked round the Alciceria which was the Moorish silk market or Souk, it was where the most sumptuous goods were brought and sold, it was originally a lot bigger and functioned as an independent village, the accesses were closed at night and it had its own mosque and customs house, unfortunately it was destroyed by fire in 1843 but was rebuilt we brought ice cream then had a wonder round the area by which time it was about 7.30 so we went to a bar and had a drink and something to eat then went back to the hotel about 10pm.
