The Grand Cathedral of Granada ( After some more good times in Cordoba) – Alluring Andalusia, Part 6

This post is the continuation of a series documenting our travels to Andalusia in Southern Spain in the European Autumn of 2025. We had started off in Cordoba where we had been awestruck bt the unique Mezquita Cathedral ( The Mezquita Catedral de Cordoba – A unique architectural masterpiece – Alluring Andalusia, Part 2) and enjoyed our time in the pretty but compact Old town of Cordoba ( Wandering through the streets, walls, churches & bridges of Old Town Cordoba – Alluring Andalusia, Part 3). We had then spent the most wonderful one and a half days in the hilltop town of Ronda enjoying its Moorish Quarter ( The Moorish Quarter/ Old town of Ronda – Alluring Andalusia, Part 4) and seeing its famous Bullring ( The Bullring and the Walls of Ronda – Alluring Andalusia, Part 5).

We had then narrowly escaped a raging thunderstorm in Ronda and spent the entirety of the storm safe and dry inside the train on the way to Cordoba. We were lucky enough to reach Cordoba after it had stopped raining and walked back to our Boutique Hotel Caireles where we had stayed previously & left most of our luggage. We checked in and got our luggage before freshening up and going out for dinner.

We had enjoyed our dinners at the Bodegas Mezquita Cespedes just a stones throw away from our hotel on our previous 2 nights in Cordoba. We stick to restaurants once we enjoy them and had made reservations for our 3rd and last dinner there that night.

We went to the restaurant where we got a table quickly ( reservations in Andalusia were easy and made getting a table much more faster for the entirety of our trip). We ordered the tapas we hadn’t tried till now – Fried Chicken tenders with Curry Mayo for myself and Berenjenas Frittas for the better half. The Better half had enjoyed the Potato Omelette with onion and black garlic aioli the last time, so we ordered that again. We also ordered a local beer for myself and an iced tea for the better half.

Back at the Bodegas Mezquita Cespedes in Cordoba for dinner

My Chicken tenders and the better half’s iced tea

Berenjenas Frittas – Fried Eggplant with cane molasses

The Better Half’s Favourite Potato Omelet with Black Garlic Aioli

We enjoyed the dinner at leisure since we didn’t have any other sights in the area we wanted to see. I thought it would be a tragedy if we left Cordoba without trying the local famous pastry – Pastel Cordobes. It is a pastry made with puff pastry layers with white pumpkin jam in between and dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar. While I liked it the better half wasn’t enthused, so we ordered a Chocolate Coulant with Vanilla ice cream which is more her jam! (All puns intended!). We ate our respective desserts and said goodbye to the restaurant that had been our regular haunt in Cordoba. Tummies filled to the brim we returned to the hotel and enjoyed a great night’s sleep

The Pastel Cordobes – A pastry unique to Cordoba

The better half’s Coulant with Vanilla Ice cream

We woke up early the next morning not wanting to miss our last sunrise on the Old Roman Bridge of Cordoba. We got ready and were out before the first light to enjoy our walk around this Old Town that had pleasantly surprised us with its charm. I have spent far too many words on this in previous posts so I will let the photos do the heavy lifting this time. For a change I put on the 300mm lens to see what I could photograph with it that morning.

Ready for our last morning walk in Cordoba

Narrow streets of Old Town Cordoba before dawn

The streets of Cordoba freshly washed by the previous evenings storm

The better half loved these blue potted plant arrangements all over town

The better half poses on yet another pretty but narrow lane in Cordoba

The full moon beautifully captured by the 300 mm

Statues on the Plague monument in Cordoba by the 300mm

The bell tower of the Mezquita as the sun starts to rise

 

Archangel Raphael guards the town of Cordoba

A white rock pigeon on the Roman Bridge

A common moorhen looks for breakfast in the Guadalquivir

A grey heron poses for the 300mm on the Guadalquivir

Another pretty Sunrise in Cordoba

The sunrise was as beautiful as we had hoped for and it’s these morning walks on this bridge that I will remember most about Cordoba. We were clicking a few selfies before heading back when a local walking his dog on the bridge offered to take our photos – We gladly obliged!

Selfies with our favourite part of Cordoba

Thanks to the kind local who clicked these for us!

With the sun up in the sky we made our way back to the hotel for breakfast. I took some close up photos of the beautifully carved walls and doors of the Mezquita on our way back.

Elaborate carved parts of the walls and door to the Mezquita

We then had our reliably good breakfast at our hotel and did the only thing we had not done in Old Town Cordoba – visit the courtyard of the Mezquita when it’s empty just after the main gates open. We walked around before the big groups arrived and clicked away to glory.

The beautiful courtyard of the Mezquita Catedral of Cordoba

We still had time before our train to Granada so we went to the Calleja de las Flores again – The street made famous by influencers was still empty this early in the morning and we walked through it again before it was time to say goodbye to Cordoba.

Back at the Calleja de las Flores before saying goodbye to Cordoba

A beautiful little shrine to the Virgin outside the Mezquita

Back outside our hotel on another beautiful morning in Cordoba – Sadly it was time to leave

We picked up our luggage and said goodbye to the Boutique Hotel Caireles and walked down to the train station where we would take the fast AVE train to Granada.

Saying goodbye to Cordoba with a smile

Walking through the Jewish Quarter with the entirety of our luggage

At Cordoba train station waiting for our fast AVE train to Granada

On our reserved seats on the train to Granada

Beautiful skies overhead as the AVE zooms through the countryside

We reached the Granada Train station which is on the outskirts of the City Centre and took the 33 number bus to the Cathedral stop where our Hotel Anacapri was located. We kept our luggage in the luggage storage as our rooms weren’t ready yet and decided to go and have lunch as it was lunch time.

Granada has a whole range of Middle eastern cuisine restaurants at the foot of the Albaicin neighbourhood. The better half enjoys her Falafel and we wanted to try out one of these restaurants for lunch. So we went to one which was small but looked clean and had decent reviews – The Restaurante Palestina. We sat down at one of the handful of tables and ordered a falafel  pita wrap with fries for the better half and Sheesh Kababs with salad and fries for myself. I also ordered an Ayran ( the buttermilk drink I had discovered and loved in Middle Eastern restaurants in Germany ) for myself while the better half got a lemonade.

It was our first meal in Granada and we got our first free Tapas with our drinks. Here it was falafel with hummus. A tapas with every drink was a tradition that we had heard about but to actually get free starters with drinks in Europe was a first for us ( Old fashioned Indian bars have served munchies with drinks since ages, but it’s a tradition that’s slowly dying in Mumbai).

Free falafel with hummus with our soft drinks in Restaurante Palestina

The falafel was hot and freshly made and the hummus was excellent. We knew that our meal was going to be a good one! We were right as our dishes arrived which had huge portions and were delicious to boot! We enjoyed our Middle eastern cuisine lunch, which in Granada was as local as the Andalusian staples.

The huge Falafel pita wrap with fries

I’m happy with my huge skewers of Kebabs and the refreshing Ayran

The better half is happy to get her favourite falafel

Enjoying our meal at the Restaurante Palestina

We finished our meal and lumbered back to the hotel full to the brim. By now our rooms were ready and we quickly kept our luggage and freshened up. I booked combo tickets for the Christian Sights of Granada which saves a lot of money if you are staying 2-3 days in Granada and includes the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel which are must sees. I also booked entry for the Monastery of San Jeronimo and the San Nicholas Church and tower which has spectacular views of the Alhambra at sunset ( A must do in my book!) ( https://ticketsgranadacristiana.com  is the official website)

Our room at the Hotel Anacapri

While booking we have to select times of visit and I asked the better half if she wanted to visit the Cathedral now and she gladly agreed. So we booked our entry and set off for the Granada Cathedral which was hardly 100 metres from our hotel. We first mistakenly entered the Iglesia Parroquial del Sagrario a church right next to the Cathedral. I knew this wasn’t right, even though this 1704 built church is spectacular it wasn’t Cathedral sized! We clicked a few photos since we were there and then made our way to the Cathedral next door.

The Iglesia Parroquial del Sagrario

The Cathedral of Granada has an interesting history. Granada was once the jewel of the Moorish Kingdom in Spain, when the Christians conquered it from the Moors they had a choice to make their Cathedral on a open space of land just a few hundred metres away with good soil for a foundation. But like most conquerors they destroyed the Grand Mosque that stood here and built their Grand Cathedral on sandy soil making construction difficult ( Some things never change!). The Cathedral took over 200 years to build and was finished in the late 1700s.

The facade of the Cathedral which resembles a triumphant arch seems too big for the small square it faces and it is difficult to capture the entire facade even from the far end of the square.

The facade of the Granada Cathedral

We didn’t waste any time as the square outside was crowded now ( We would be back early morning before our time in Granada was done!) and went inside. We got our tickets scanned and were inside the second largest church in Spain ( The largest is Sevilla – maybe will see it someday!).

The Granada Cathedral – The second largest church in Spain

It is built in the renaissance style with rounded semicircular arches and tall columns. The huge space was meant to inspire awe in the devout and it is certain to evoke that. The huge Church might look plain and the reason for that is that a 18th century bishop ordered the interior painted with lime for hygienic reasons, the people liked it and it has stayed white since. Even though the pillars and walls are white, all niches are decorated with the finest of Baroque styled altars. The main thing that immediately drew my attention were the two huge  Baroque Church organs facing each other in the centre of the nave ( and not at the back wall where organs are usually located ).

The amazing looking Church Organs at the Granada Cathedral

After gawking at the huge Church organs with uniquely Spanish horizontal trumpets for a few minutes wishing that there should be a concert here playing these impressive looking instruments. We then made our way to the high altar which is one of the finest Renaissance art works in Spain. Stained glass, art work galore, statues of the kneeling king and queen and gilded pillars all capped by a beautiful painted dome. It was almost to much for photos to get it all in.

The impressive High Altar at the Granada Cathedral

Beautiful Stained Glass, Paintings and a spectacular dome cap the Granada Cathedral

After straining our necks trying to see the details painted high above we made our way around the side naves which has the ornately carved permanently closed door to the Royal Chapel. In present day both these churches are run by different orders and hence have separate entrances.

Ornately carved gothic door to the Royal Chapel

We then saw the side chapels each more ornate than the other, including one dedicated to St James – The Moor Slayer, complete with a statue of the saint crushing a Moor with his horses hooves!

Chapel dedicated to St James the moor slayer! – on his horse trampling a Moor

The Side Nave filled with Baroque Chapels in every niche!

We then paid a visit to the Sacristy which had the usual religious art. Photos were not allowed inside the Sacristy but it has a beautiful Wooden statue of the Immaculate Conception by the Andalusian artist Cano whose art fills most of the Cathedral.

Entrance to the Sacristy filled with great religious art – No photos allowed inside

We then did our church routine of sitting in the pews for a few minutes before enjoying the beautiful organs and the altar art for a few minutes taking even more photos of the same. I can never get enough of church symmetry and the photographic opportunities it provides.

The facing Baroque church organs from the altar end

Paintings by Cano and other beautiful art in the altar of the Granada Cathedral

After our Church routine at the Granada Cathedral

With the beautiful high altar at the Granada Cathedral

The bust of Alonso Cano – the master architect and artist whose works adorn the Cathedral

We had almost missed the temporary religious art exhibit behind the altar. So we doubled back and went to see the wooden statues of saints and beautiful paintings with religious motifs. The background of the dome of the Cathedral made for great photos.

Intricately painted wooden statues of saints at the Granada Cathedral temporary exhibit

With that we finished our Cathedral visit of the Granada Cathedral, a huge monument filled with art. Satisfied with our afternoon’s sightseeing we returned to the hotel to rest our legs for a while.

More photos of us at the Granada Cathedral

We rested our legs for some time before we decided to go up to the Albaicin Neighbourhood for dinner and to look at the lit up Alhambra from the extremely popular Mirador de San Nicholas. For a change I decided to leave the SLR behind for that evening and just enjoy the view. So all photos are from the better half’s iPhone.

Iphone photo of the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicholas

A blurry iPhone photo of us at the Mirador de San Nicholas

I had reserved a table at the Restaurante Aixa located in Plaza Larga at the centre of the Albaicin neighbourhood. We got a nice table at a corner patio  which was heated and decorated – perfect for a cool autumn evening. We sat down and ordered our usual drinks – Cerveza (small beer ) and iced tea. Here too we got some delicious baked potatoes with tartar sauce and Andalusian Olives as our free tapas.

Restaurante Aixa in Albaicin – It would be our regular haunt for our 3 days in Granada

Free tapas with our drinks at Restaurante Aixa

A covered and heated patio at the Restaurante Aixa

We usually rush through our meals out of habit but here we would enjoy our dinners daily at leisure, the Andalusian way. We finished our drinks and Tapas and then I ordered the Iberian Pork cheeks in Pedro Jiminez Sauce (their specialty) which came with a huge plate of pan roasted potatoes and the better half decided to try their Potato Omelet which was huge!

Iberian Pork Cheeks with Pedro Jiminez sauce and Pan roasted potatoes

The better half’s huge Potato Omelet

The most delightful meal at restaurante Aixa

We would spend twice as much time at dinner there then we would have otherwise because of the relaxed vibe there. I knew we would be back the next day.

With our tummies satiated we took the stairs down to our hotel taking photos with our phones wherever we wanted. Albaicin gets a bad reputation on few travel guides as a sketchy place after dark but we never felt the least bit threatened or uncomfortable in our night walks there.

Photos of our walk down from Albaicin to our Hotel Anacapri

It had been yet another great day which had started in one pretty Andalusian town and ended in an equally pretty one. We had tickets booked for the Alhambra Complex the next morning which I had booked months in advance.

Whether the Alhambra and the much vaunted Nasrid Palaces would live up to the hype or be yet another crowded tourist trap is topic for another day as my posts keep getting longer and longer.( Apologies and thanks to those who got till the end!)

Till next time,

Adios!