7 Best Sights in Andalusia, Spain

This 13th-century synagogue counts among Úbeda's most amazing discoveries. Entirely underground and known as the "Water Synagogue" for the wells and natural spring under the mikvah, it comprises seven areas open to visitors, including the main area of worship, mikvah, women's gallery, and rabbi's quarters. During the summer solstice the sun's rays illuminate the stairway, providing the only natural light in the synagogue.

Catholic monarchs Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragón are buried at this shrine. The couple originally planned to be buried in Toledo's San Juan de los Reyes, but Isabel changed her mind when the pair conquered Granada in 1492. When she died in 1504, her body was first laid to rest in the Convento de San Francisco (now a parador) on the Alhambra hill. The architect Enrique Egas began work on the Capilla Real in 1506 and completed it 15 years later, creating a masterpiece of the ornate Gothic style now known in Spain as Isabelline. In 1521, Isabel's body was transferred to a simple lead coffin in the Capilla Real crypt, where it was joined by that of her husband, Fernando, and later her unfortunate daughter, Juana la Loca (Joanna the Mad), and son-in-law, Felipe el Hermoso (Philip the Handsome). Felipe died young, and Juana had his casket borne about the peninsula with her for years, opening the lid each night to kiss her embalmed spouse good night. A small coffin to the right contains the remains of Prince Felipe of Asturias, a grandson of the Catholic Monarchs and nephew of Juana la Loca who died in his infancy. The crypt containing the five lead coffins is quite simple, but it's topped by elaborate marble tombs showing Fernando and Isabel lying side by side (commissioned by their grandson Carlos V and sculpted by Domenico Fancelli). The altarpiece, by Felipe Vigariny (1522), is comprised of 34 carved panels depicting religious and historical scenes; the bottom row shows Boabdil surrendering the keys of the city to its conquerors and the forced baptism of the defeated Moors. The sacristy holds Fernando's sword, Isabel's crown and scepter, and a fine collection of Flemish paintings once owned by Isabel.

Carlos V commissioned the cathedral in 1521 because he considered the Capilla Real "too small for so much glory" and wanted to house his illustrious late grandparents someplace more worthy. Carlos undoubtedly had great intentions, as the cathedral was created by some of the finest architects of its time: Enrique de Egas, Diego de Siloé, Alonso Cano, and sculptor Juan de Maena. Alas, his ambitions came to little, for the cathedral is a grand and gloomy monument, not completed until 1714 and never used as the crypt for his grandparents (or parents). Enter through a small door at the back, off the Gran Vía. Old hymnals are displayed throughout, and there's a museum, which includes a 14th-century gold-and-silver monstrance given to the city by Queen Isabel.

The exterior of this Carthusian monastery in northern Granada is sober and monolithic, but inside are twisted multicolor marble columns; a profusion of gold, silver, tortoiseshell, and ivory; intricate stucco; and the extravagant sacristy—it's easy to see why it has been called the Christian answer to the Alhambra. Among its wonders are the trompe l'oeil spikes, shadows and all, in the Sanchez Cotan cross over the Last Supper painting at the west end of the refectory. It was begun in 1506 and moved to its present site in 1516, though construction continued for the next 300 years. If you're lucky, you may see small birds attempting to land on these faux perches. You can reach it by Bus No. N7. 

A few blocks east of the Plaza de Mina, next door to the Iglesia del Rosario, this oval 18th-century chapel has three frescoes by Goya. On Good Friday, the Sermon of the Seven Words is read and Haydn's Seven Last Words played.

A walk up Calle San José from the Plaza de Mina will bring you to this church, where Spain's first liberal constitution (known affectionately as La Pepa) was declared in 1812. It was here, too, that the Cortes (Parliament) of Cádiz met when the rest of Spain was subjected to the rule of Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte (more popularly known as Pepe Botella, for his love of the bottle). On the main altar is an Immaculate Conception by Murillo, the great Sevillano artist who fell to his death from a scaffold in 1682 while working on his Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine in Cádiz's Chapel of Santa Catalina. You can hear Mass in Latin on Sunday at noon.

The Plaza Vázquez de Molina, in the heart of the casco antiguo, is the site of this building, which is photographed so often that it's become the city's unofficial symbol. It was built by Vandelvira, but he based his design on several plans drafted in 1536 by Diego de Siloé, architect of Granada's cathedral. Considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish Renaissance religious art, the chapel was sacked in the frenzy of church burnings at the outbreak of the civil war, but it retains its ornate western façade and altarpiece, which has a rare Berruguete sculpture.