Paseo de los Tristes, Granada

More than one tourist has been desperate to find the Paseo de los Tristes on the map. And no, it is not that the GPS have gone crazy, but that the name by which everyone knows the most romantic and bohemian street of Granada does not appear in the street maps, since its official name is far from its popular name.

This beautiful avenue with privileged views of the Alhambra, which follows the course of the Darro Riveris officially called in the maps and registers “Paseo del Padre Manjón“. The popular nickname was inherited from a curious history: in the nineteenth century, the walk used to be a place of passage of the funeral processions going to the cemetery of San José de Granadaon the Sabika hill. Many people refused to go up the Cuesta del Rey Chico (or Cuesta de los Chinos, its popular name) to the cemetery and said goodbye to the deceased right here, so it is easy to imagine that, in those days, the street was not a party.
Today, fortunately, in the Paseo de los Tristes it is easy to drown one’s sorrows looking at the Alhambra from any of its lively bars, where it is almost a must to try the typical tapas from Granada.

Carrera del Darro

Today we enter one of the most sought after places for any traveler visiting Granada: the Paseo de los Tristesand the fact is that walking along the Paseo de los Tristes Granada is one of the most romantic and bohemian plans that you can do in the city.

We already warned you that if you look for it on Google Maps or on a map, you can go a little crazy and you would not be the first person but, relax, because we are going to tell you the reason and the history of this historic walk does not appear in the street maps so that you have the key to the question.

Paseo de los Tristes (History)

To find the Paseo de los Tristes, we have to cross two of the most emblematic squares of the historic center of Granada. Granadasuch as New Square y Plaza de Santa Anaand after them there, on the Carrera del Darro and at the foot of the Alhambrawe will find it.

This place, as its name indicates, follows part of the course of the Darro River Darro Riverand its enigmatic streets and houses on its sides are communicated thanks to the 14 bridges that cross between the two hills, where we can highlight the Arab bridges of the Arab bridges of the Chirimías and the Aljibillo. Here we locate one of the favorite places for tourists to take a souvenir photo of your visit to Granada. visit to Granada.

If you follow this route you will see that in the street map this promenade takes the name of Paseo del Padre Manjón religious founder of the Ave Maria Schools, very close to this avenue and that gives it its official name, but then, why is it popularly known as Paseo de los Tristes?

Why is it known by this name?

Legend has it that the Paseo de los Tristes is the result of a history that has been shaped by the very life and idiosyncrasy of the traditions of the city, since before being called with its popular and official names and being known as Gate of GuadixIt was already one of the most traditional public places in Granada until the 19th century. It was precisely at the beginning of this century when the promenade began to be nicknamed “Paseo de los Tristes”, given that at the top of the Sabika Hilllocated above the Alhambra. Alhambrawas located around 1805 the Cemetery of San José -formerly called Cemetery of the Barriers, and whose only access to it corresponded to the Cuesta del Rey Chico. This made it necessary for the funeral procession to first pass through the area of the Puerta de Guadix, currently the Father Manjon.

The inclination that occurs after passing this avenue make that in many occasions, part of the cortege made his farewell to the deceased in this place, so you can imagine that it began to be an enclave where the joy was shining by its absence. Hence the nickname with which we know it today, Paseo de los Tristesin honor of all those who sadly mourned their loved ones in this place.

As a curiosity, these lands belonged to the lords of Castrilwho in the 17th century, after a large explosion in a gunpowder workshop that affected the area, ceded part of their possessions so that this promenade could be built, which also gives direct access to the Sacromonte.

The fountain in the middle of the promenade is original and dates from 1609, and if you look at the right side of the promenade, on the other side of the river and almost at the foot of the Alhambra, you will see the fountain. Alhambra you will see a beautiful abandoned building known as the Hotel del Reuma.

Its real name was the Hotel Bosques de la Alhambra. It was built in 1910, but humidity destroyed the building and incomprehensibly it became a hospital, in which conditions, as you can imagine, were not the best for the patients. Hence its popular nickname.

The Paseo de los Tristes is, in short, one of the most striking, idyllic, charismatic and historic places you can visit on your trip to Granada. trip to Granada.