Museum and Flamenco

I visited a museum of the Inquisition and Sephardic Jewish history in the evening, followed by a flamenco concert.

The museum told the tragic story of the Inquisition coming to Granada and targeting Jews and Muslims who had chosen to stay rather than flee. They had to convert. They were known as conversos. The Inquisition tested whether they had really converted or whether they were merely putting on a facade of conversion in public but still practicing their own religion in private.

The Inquisition had the power of the church and the king behind it so it’s power was enormous and much to be feared. The museum explained the process of trials and punishment in gruesome detail. There is very little left of Jewish people or culture in Granada as a consequence of the efficacy of the Inquisition.

After visiting the museum and seeing the sun set over the Alhambra, I went to a Flamenco concert which was a fascinating insight into a very Spanish form of music and dance which has its roots in the amalgam of the cultures of gypsies, Moors and slaves here in Granada. The guitar playing, the dancing, castanets, foot stomping and Flamenco costumes are amazing.Read more