The Granada train diverges to the N.E. from the Málaga line (R. 11), and
ascends the broad valley of the _Guadalhorce_. On the right soon appears
the _Sierra de Abdalajis_.
87 M. _Antequera_ (1346 ft.; Fonda de la Castaña and others), the Roman
_Anticaria_, lies picturesquely at the N. base of the hills, with a
ruined Moorish castle. The _Cueva de Menga_, 10 min. to the E. of the
town, is one of the largest dolmens in Spain.
99½ M. _Archidona_; the town lies on a hill, 3¾ M. to the S.—We next
cross the watershed between the Guadalhorce and the _Genil_ and descend
through several tunnels. After the third the snow-covered _Sierra
Nevada_ suddenly appears towards the E.
121 M. _Loga_, the _Lôsha_ of the Moors, together with _Alhama_, a
little town on the hill 12½ M. to the S.E., once ‘the keys of Granada’,
were captured by the Catholic kings (p. 75) in 1488.
[Illustration: GRANADA]
The country is now hilly and at places sandy; the Genil with its Vega
(p. 73) remains on the right. 132 M. _Tocón_, at the foot of the _Sierra
de Prugo_, On the left rises the bare _Sierra de Parapanda_, which the
natives of Granada regard as a barometer. 144 M. _Pinos Puente_, at the
foot of the barren _Sierra de Elvira_.
We next enter the fertile _Vega_, enclosed by olive-clad hills. 148 M.
_Atarfe_, station for _Santa Fe_, 3 M. to the S.W., on the left bank of
the Genil, built in the form of a Roman camp by Isabella the Catholic
during the siege of Granada. The capitulation was signed here in 1491
(p. 75), and so too, in 1492, was the contract with Columbus regarding
his voyage of discovery (p. 5).
In the foreground appears the lofty _Albaicín_ (p. 74); then, overtopped
by the Sierra Nevada, (153 M.) _Granada_ (see below).