Casa de los Girones

Casa de los Girones is a modest-looking building in Granada with a surprisingly layered past, tucked into the Realejo-San Matías district right next to the Real de Santo Domingo quarter. Its plain exterior is no accident — it was designed that way seven centuries ago.

What exactly is this place?

It's a former Nasrid palace, raised in the 13th century on the site of an earlier Almohad mosque, covering roughly 630 square metres. In 1290, Sultan Muhammad II bought the property and turned it into a palatial residence. Toward the end of the 15th century, right before the fall of Granada, the house belonged to the sister of Boabdil, the last Nasrid emir, who folded it into her own palace-almunia.

After the Christian conquest of the city, the building's role changed sharply: between 1540 and 1554 it served as the seat of the Inquisition. In 1554 it passed to the Téllez-Girón family, who gave it the name it carries today, and in 1560 they remodeled it with Renaissance touches — which is why the building now reads as a blend of two very different eras.

Why does it look so closed-off from the street?

The façade is almost windowless, and the entrance is set at an angle so passers-by can't glimpse the interior. That's the classic layout of a Hispano-Muslim private house: family life happened inward, away from public view. The decorative details and proportions match those of the nearby Real de Santo Domingo, which is how historians date the core structure to the mid-13th century, right at the start of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

What happened to it in the 20th century?

The Spanish state purchased the building in 1930. Its restoration was overseen by Leopoldo Torres Balbás, the architect and conservator who spent decades caring for the Alhambra and shaped how Granada's Nasrid monuments look today. The Casa de los Girones now belongs to the regional government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) and houses a delegation of the Andalusian Youth Institute.

How can you actually visit it?

Because it functions as a government office rather than a museum, it's only open during office hours on weekdays. That rules out a spontaneous weekend drop-in — plan a weekday visit and check current hours before you go. Access tends to be limited to the parts open to the public, so don't expect a full palace tour along the lines of the Alhambra.

How do you get there?

The house sits in Realejo-San Matías, one of Granada's oldest neighborhoods, within walking distance of the Albaicín and the Alhambra. The district itself rewards a slow walk — narrow lanes, former noble residences, and a texture that has survived centuries of change.

Frequently asked questions

Can tourists go inside the Casa de los Girones? Only partially. It's an active administrative building, mainly accessible on weekdays during office hours, and it doesn't operate as a ticketed museum.

Where does the name come from? From the Téllez-Girón family, who acquired the building in 1554 and remodeled it in Renaissance style in 1560.

Is it part of the Alhambra complex? No, it's a standalone building in the Realejo-San Matías district, though it shares the Nasrid-era style and chronology with the nearby Real de Santo Domingo.

What else is worth seeing nearby? The Realejo district, the Albaicín, and the Alhambra itself — all within walking distance.