Spain · Andalusia · Granada
Realejo-San Matías, Granada — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Realejo-San Matías is a Granada barrio in the Distrito Centro below the Alhambra, made of the Realejo, San Matías, Santa Ana, and Barrio de la Virgen.
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Where to stay in Realejo-San Matías
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
It splits into a flat half and a steep one. The level ground keeps little of its old street plan, while the high part on the slope of the Mauror hill running down from the Torres Bermejas is a maze of lanes so steep that many of them are stepped, full of single-family houses and Granadan cármenes. That upper part has its own name.
Antequeruela was called after the people of Antequera it sheltered in 1410, though the origin is disputed. The Alhambra is directly above.
Things to do in and around Granada
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Casa Huerta de San Vicente Heritage
- Museo de la Capilla Real Heritage
- Museo de la Alhambra
Churches & Religious Sites
6- S.A.I. Catedral Metropolitana de la Encarnación Heritage
- Royal Chapel of Granada Heritage
- Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows Heritage
- Iglesia de San Matías Heritage
- Iglesia Conventual del Santísimo Corpus Christi. Iglesia Santa María Magdalena Heritage
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- Convento de Santa Cruz la Real Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
4- Arc of Granadas Heritage
- Castillo de Bibataubín Heritage
- Casa de los Vargas Heritage
- Gate of Bibarrambla Heritage
Landmarks & Notable Places
3- Casa de los Girones Heritage
- Torre de la Cautiva
- Torre de las Infantas
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Granada
About Realejo-San Matías
What are the main landmarks in Realejo-San Matías?
One square is the heart of the barrio. Campo del Príncipe was built over the site of an old Muslim cemetery and took its name because the council had the ground levelled in 1497 for the wedding of prince Juan. A crucifix draws a crowd there.
Thousands of Granadans gather round the Cristo de los Favores at three in the afternoon each Good Friday to ask three graces in silence, a tradition going back to the 18th century. Nothing is left of the walls. The gates among them, including the well-known ones of al Fajjarín and Neched, the potters' and the millers', have all gone.
What is the history of Realejo-San Matías?
Archaeology cannot reach back past the 12th century here. Approaching the barrio's urban reality before then is difficult, and for the early medieval period the sources speak of a Jewish suburb of the Muslim city called Garnata al-Yahud, Granada of the Jews, on the left bank of the Darro, for which there is still no archaeological evidence. Transformation began in the 12th century.
The potters' suburb rabd al-Fajjarin was created along with that of al-Najd, their layout organised around the water available through a network of channels fed by the Acequia Gorda and the Acequia de las Tinajas, together with almunias, a cemetery area and a series of pottery complexes. Christians renamed it after the conquest. They called it Realejo because they set a military camp there, more exactly the place where the tent of the king or the general stood.
Refugees named the upper part. The slope of the Mauror below the Torres Bermejas took in the people of Antequera in 1410 and was called Antequeruela for it. A prince's wedding made the square.
The council had the Campo del Príncipe levelled in 1497 for the marriage of prince Juan, on the site of a Muslim cemetery.
Where is Realejo-San Matías?
Realejo-San Matías lies in the old town of Granada at the southeastern foot of the Alhambra, on the left bank of the Darro, running from level ground up the slope of the Mauror below the Torres Bermejas.
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Updated October 2026