La Alcaicería: Granada Travel Guide (4.5★)

A bazaar folded into three lanes

Step off Calle Reyes Católicos at number 12 and the street narrows to shoulder width. Horseshoe arches frame shopfronts painted with plasterwork in red, gold and blue. Lanterns of pierced brass and coloured glass hang so low you have to duck beneath them.

The name comes from the Arabic al-qaysariyya, a walled market for valuable goods. Under the Nasrid sultans this was Granada’s silk exchange, a district of some two hundred shops that was locked at night. A fire in 1843 destroyed it. What you walk through today is the smaller neo-Moorish rebuild, a few lanes wedged between the Cathedral and Calle Zacatín.

What hangs from the doorframes

The goods spill out of the shops and up the walls. You’ll see:

• Taracea: boxes, chessboards and trays inlaid with bone and wood in geometric stars, a Granada craft with Nasrid roots
• Fajalauza-style ceramics: plates and pomegranate motifs in blue and green
• Lamps: brass and glass lanterns, often sold flat-packed for travel
• Textiles and leather: scarves, slippers, bags and poufs

Much of this stock is imported, and some is made in Granada. Turn a piece over and ask where it was made before you pay for “local”.

Haggling and moving through the lanes

The lanes are public streets, open at every hour. Each shop sets its own hours, though, so come during the day if you want to buy. At night the arches are quiet and the plasterwork is easier to look at without the merchandise.

• Prices are usually marked. Polite negotiation on bigger items or several pieces can work, but this is not a Moroccan souk, so keep any counter-offer modest.
• Cards are widely taken. Carry a little cash for small trinkets.
• Space is tight. Wear your backpack on your front and keep moving. Stop in shop doorways instead of mid-lane.
• Photos of the arches are fine. Ask before you photograph a shopkeeper’s display up close.

You can take in the whole quarter in a slow loop. It fills up when tour groups come out of the Capilla Real next door, so step back onto Calle Zacatín for a few minutes and return once they’ve moved on.

Stringing it into a walk

La Alcaicería sits at the hinge of central Granada, so plan it as one stop in a short circuit:

• Capilla Real and the Cathedral: just around the corner on Calle Oficios. Ferdinand and Isabella are buried in the chapel.
• Palacio de la Madraza: across Calle Oficios, the Nasrid-era university with a restored prayer hall.
• Corral del Carbón: across Reyes Católicos, a 14th-century merchants’ inn and the city’s best-preserved Nasrid civic building.
• Plaza Bib-Rambla: a minute west, lined with flower stalls and café terraces.
• Plaza Nueva: about five minutes up Reyes Católicos. From there the small red C-line minibuses climb to the Albaicín and the Alhambra.

From the train or bus station, Line 1 of the Granada metro stops at Recogidas, roughly ten minutes’ walk from here. Most visitors staying in the centre or the Albaicín simply walk down.