Route through the Gothic city; The Centre

The imprint of the Christian conquistadors soon materialised in a new city centre: Hospital Real; the Arco de Elvira and the Eje Elvira (St Andrés); the Iglesia de Santiago; the Madrassa; the Lonja and the Capilla Real.

In front of the Puerta Elvira and the Triunfo, extend the first areas to be urbanised in the Christian period, with buildings as notable as the Hospital Real, one of the first edifices raised by the Catholic Kings in Granada, and one of the few civil works brought into being by them in this city.Still unfinished,the edifice is a magnificent example of the transition of styles which distinguish the period.

Also by the express desire of the Catholic soveriegns, the Capilla Real was constructed,their symbol and pantheon and a model example of flammiferous gothic.In the interior are kept valuable carvings and Flemish paintings and the famous tryptich of the Passion by Dierick Bouts which belonged to Isabel the Catholic and, because of its size and qualities, is the most important pictorial work in Granada.In the same square of the Capilla Real is found the well known Palace of the Madrassa or Muslim school of Koranic Law,founded by Yusuf the first in 1349 (14thC).After the conquest of the city by the Catholic Soveriegns this building lost its use and was handed over by the monarchs to be the Town Council offices,which use it retained until the end of the nineteenth century.

Of the Muslim building, part of the decoration of the façade is preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Granada and its oratorio, although very much restored in the twentieth century, with a square ground floor which turns into an octagon higher up.

The Nazarene building was almost completely demolished in the eighteenth century, when the major part of the building which can be found today, was built,with its arcaded patio, its great monumental staircase and a baroque façade with very elaborate windows and balconies above an ornamental cover decorated with pictures.

Isabel la Católica

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Restoration of the Retablo Mayor of the Capilla Real of Granada

The restoration of the Flemish panel, a copy of the Descent of Van der Weyden, culminates all the process of restoration of the Capilla Real of the Cathedral of Granada by the team of the Museo del Prado’s restoration workshop, directed by Carmen Garrido.