Bib-Rambla Square Granada

Bib-Rambla Square Granada

BibRambla Square is one of the busiest in the center of center of Granada for being a regular meeting point for the people of Granada and for being the usual place of events such as the Day of the Cross -one of the most important local festivals- or temporary markets, such as the popular crib market held during the Christmas season.

The name of this square, the oldest square in the Medina Garnatahas its origins in the Nasrid Bab al-Ramla Gate (Gate Bib Rambla or Gate of the Arenalbecause of its proximity to the sandy bank of the Darro Riverwhich in those times still flowed in the open air throughout the urban center of the medina. ), which was considered one of the main ones of the wall that protected the city, and that by its strategic position next to the main mosque and the souk, had a role of great relevance for the public life.

Already in Arab times, this Plaza de Bib Rambla Granada or Bibarrambla was an enclave to celebrate the festivities of the city, a character that continued in Christian times with the celebration of bullfights and currently as we told you at the beginning of this post, in addition to standing out for its wide range of restaurants, where one of the most typical things is to take some delicious churros with chocolate.

After the Conquest Bib Rambla became the place for the celebration of the autos de fe (acts of faith, in English) and the public destruction of all kinds of manuscripts, documents and books considered heresy by the Holy Inquisition. So much so, that the extensive and very rich library of the first university of the West, the Madrasa (created in Granada) disappears completely in this place of which we speak to you today. The Christians would popularly know this door of Bib Rambla as the Arch of the EarsIt is said that the mutilated parts of executed criminals were publicly displayed there as a warning.

The people of Granada have the habit of living and walking through this square often, but looking back in history makes us see it as a place with a spectacular historical background and it is easy to imagine everything that has been lived in it. However, its architecture and morphology has been one of the most changing in Granada, adapting to the needs of the city at all times.

Currently only one historic building is preserved in BibRambla, the Archbishop’s Palacedating back to the end of the 19th century and its charismatic Fountain of the Giantsfrom the seventeenth century.

Curious fact: The dismantling of the gate took place at the end of the 19th century. However, it remains standing in the city since the architect Torres Balbas carried out its reconstruction in 1933 in the Alamedas promenade that goes up to the Alhambra.