GRANA'DA (Spanish, Granata, Arab. Garnathah, said to a corruption of Her vdttah, the ancient fortress of Plionician origin), a famous city of Spain, formerly ical of the of Granada, and now chief town of the modern province of the same name, is built on a northern branch of the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of 2,445 ft. above sea-level, in lat. 37' 15' n., long. 3° 45' w , and is about 140 m. e.s.e. of Seville. It stands on the right bank of the Jenil, overlooking the fertile and extensive Vega or plain of Granada, and is watered also by the Darro, a rapid mountain stream, which joins the Jenil about a niile below the town. Though now sadly decayed, it is still one of the greatest towns of Spain, is the seat of an archbishop, and has a university, attended, it is said, by about 800 students. One of the two hills on which the town is mainly built is surmounted by the Alhambra (q.v ); the other hill is occupied by the suburb called the Albayziu, the oldest part, of the town, and now inhabited almost entirely by gypsies. The city of Granada proper, namely, that portion it that con tains the Alhambra, is surrounded by but ruinous walls, and by strong towers The streets are narrow, crooked, and uneven; the houses, which for the most part are well built, are heavy and gloomy in outward appearance, having the flat roofs and pro jecting balconies of the Moorish style of architecture; the interiors, however, are con venient and suitable to the climate. Granada has several charming public squares. The
cathedral, a splendid structure, profusely decorated with jaspers and colored marbles, and having a high-altar placed under a dome, supported by 22 pillars, contains the monuments of Ferdinand and Isabella,• and of Philip I. and his consort Juana. The industry and trade of the town are quite inconsiderable. Pop. 62,000.
The modern city of Granada was founded by the Moors in the 8th c., and for some time remained subject to the caliphs of Cordova; but 1235 it became capital of the king dom of Grahada. and rapidly rose to distinction as a wealthy trading city and, as the seat of arts and architecture. tinder the Moors, it attained the highest pitch 'of its pros• perky. Toward the close of the 15th c., it is said to have had 400,000 inhabitants, and to have been surrounded by a wall fortified with 1030 towers. The Vega of Granada, in front of the city, was celebrated for 200 years as the scene of contest between the Moors and the chivalry of Christendom—a contest which was brought to a termination only by the capture and complete subjection of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, after a siege of 12 months.