Carmen de los Martires | Granada | Spain | Andalusia | Andalucia

Carmen de los Martires | Granada | Spain | Andalusia | Andalucia https://www.connollycove.com/ In this video, we are in Granada, Spain exploring the beautiful Carmen de los Martires. Just a few metres away from the famous Alhambra, Granada keeps one of its stunning wonders – an oasis is hidden away from the hustle and bustle of a capital city. Carmen de los Mártires is an urban garden that boasts dreamlike landscapes, wonderful greenery, a unique environment, and a spectacular view of the city. It’s a 19th-century mansion surrounded by an oasis of plants, statues, caves, waterfalls, and even a lake, with a romantic tower and a bridge. It’s the ideal place for a stroll, to relax, or even to feed the ducks and swans living there. If we look at the origins of both the place and its name, we find they are also curious. Throughout the centuries, these gardens have been dungeons, torture chambers, a chapel, a convent, an orchard, and a palace. In the 11th century, the palace area of the Alhambra was under construction, and the captive Christian workers also began being imprisoned here. The area became known as “Campo de los Cautivos”. The large dungeons which were dug out of the rock came to house up to 7000 prisoners, many of whom died during the seizure of the city at the end of the 15th century, when the Catholic Monarchs conquered Granada. Boabdil, the last Nasrid king, left the city by crossing this area and keeping it in his memory. Queen Isabel requested a chapel to be built there in memory of the martyrs who died. This would later become a bigger church and a convent, with several chapels and a cloister, and equipped with several outbuildings. This is how it came to be known as Carmen de los Mártires. In the nineteenth century the convent was sold, and after passing through several owners, the palace was built with its gardens. The Carmen de los Martires is a romantic set of gardens, a successful blend of French and English styling. Designated an