Alcaicería of Granada

The Alcaicería is a reconstructed remnant of Granada's old Moorish silk market, a warren of narrow covered lanes near the cathedral. In Nasrid times it was a gated, guarded bazaar where silk was traded and taxed, and its close alleys still follow the intimate scale of that medieval market. A fire in the 19th century destroyed the original, but the current colourful passages, hung with lamps, ceramics and textiles, evoke the old souk. Horseshoe arches decorate the shopfronts, and visitors browse stalls near the cathedral and Bib-Rambla square.