Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte

Drop off close to this "museum" with a steep walk up cobblestoned steps to the top. Very much enjoyed this, very well done with references to various places in the world people have lived/live in caves. Of particular interest were the short films on the evolution of Flamenco Dancing and Singing. You leave with a clear understanding of how "baked in" this style is: old clips of children at a young age dancing and clapping; flamenco in the caves which is now part of the tourism industry.

Sacromonte cave houses are a complex of whitewashed caves dug into the side of the hill. These caves provided safety for their inhabitants (mostly Spanish Gypsies) not only from the scorching Andalusian sun and winter rains but also from religious and ethnic prosecution.

The museum features a total of 11 caves or houses, most of which are made up of a couple of rooms complete with some basic furniture and various tools of the trade. Each cave has a theme: a typical dwelling, a stable, a basket-weaving cave, a kitchen, a ceramics workshop, and a textiles workshop. Together, the caves paint an extraordinary picture of a life you could hardly imagine.

While traditionally a Gypsy district, Sacromonte also took in moriscos (Moores converted to Christianity), freed or escaped black slaves and Castilians.
Gypsies first arrived in Granada as camp followers to the armies of the Catholic Monarchs that marched victoriously on Granada after expelling the last Moor dynasty from Spain. They were allowed to remain outside the city walls on the condition that they abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and pick up a trade
After the Civil War, in the 1940s and 50s, farmers from rural parts of Granada fled to the hills of Sacromonte, forced by famine to abandon their lands. The community swelled up to its maximum size.

But in 1963, six months of torrential rains destabilized the soil, and the entire hill was in danger of collapsing. Probably not wanting the responsibility for inaction, the civil authorities forcefully evicted the residents of Sacromonte caves, ordering them never to return. And that was the end of the Gypsy history of Sacromonte caves.Read more