The Ancient Drinking Water Basins Of Granada

A story by Shreya Raman

To say that Granada is a magical city would be an understatement. Be it the magnificent Alhambra with its gardens, fountains and muqarnas or the beautiful cobbled roads of Albaicín, the element that seems to tie it all together to create this spell-bound aura is water.

Located on the footsteps of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada city is at the confluence of two rivers–Darro and Genil. While many historical cities have been known to be near rivers, what sets Granada apart is its centuries old complex water system of cisterns, fountains and basins.

The most famous and well-known illustration of these complex structures is within the Alhambra. The 13th century palace and fortress complex is dotted with fountains, water channels and incredibly designed irrigation facilities. The BBC called it a feat that impresses engineers to the date.

A photo of the court of myrtles in the Nasrid Palaces in Alhambra

Beyond the magnificence and the opulence of the Alhambra, exists another beautiful and rather ignored legacy of water systems. And these are the pilares or drinking water basins that exist around the city. Built in as early as 14th and 15th century, these basins that are made with stone and are bound to the walls exist all over the city. And some of them continue to provide clean, cold drinking water for weary travellers and residents. Or even cute doggos!

One of the cutest dogs ever quenching thirst at an ancient pilare in Granada

Intrigued by the historical and architectural significance of these pilares, I decided to walk around the city and map all the fountains that I could spot. I found around 20 and if you also want to visit them, follow this map!

CUESTA ALHACABA

CALLE ELVIRA

CALLE SAN JERÓNIMO

DARO ROAD

CALLE PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN

CALLE MESONES

CALLE PUENTEZUELAS

CALLE MOLINOS

CALLE TEJEIRO

CALLE SAN ISIDRO

PASEO DE LOS BASILIOS

OpenStreetMapcontributors

Let's start with the map of Granada city

I walked kilometres and kilometres in search of these pilares. Sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill but ears always in search of the sound of flowing water. And I managed to find 15 of these old pilares that are functioning.
This is where they are!

Now, walking for long in the Granada summer heat is no joke! I am sure everyone who has been here would attest. So I thought, why limit the search to only the old ones? There are a lot of new drinking water fountains spread across the city and I assure you that they are equally capable of quenching your thirst.
However, finding these are tricky. For one, they look like this! So unassuming! And also they don't have flowing water. So, your ears are no good for finding these. I have geotagged all the new ones I could find.
They are here, marked in a darker shade!

While it would have been utopic if all the old beautiful pilares were still functioning, the reality is that many of them are dry and not well maintained. Case in point. But if you still want to see them for their beauty, you can find some of them at the locations marked with a red cross.

I know the map looks beautiful but may not really help much in navigating to these places. So I have made my google maps list of these fountains public and here is the link for that! Happy pilares hunting to you!