Looking at the map of the cities of Granada and Santa
Fe, both situated in the province of Granada, you will notice differences in their configuration. Santa Fe is organised in a
grid-plan which is very characteristic of military outposts. It was built in
the XV century by the Catholic army while they were laying siege to the city of
Granada. Granada on the other hand, had been inhabited much longer than Santa
Fe. It was an important medieval city controlled by Islamic rule. Granada seems
to have been constructed in two stages. The center of the city is the oldest.
It is configured around the Alhambra; a medieval styled palace-fortress
situated at the top of a hill. The streets that surround the Alhambra are very
organic and seem to be regulated by the topography of the landscape. Post
Reconquista, the city has expanded beyond the center. It is easy to tell which
streets belonged to the old city and which ones belong to the new one because
of the change from organic winding roads to a grid system.
To understand the significance of the new form of
urban design we can compare the cities to other sites previously seen in class.
The South American site of Pikillacta in Peru closely resembles the city of
Santa Fe.
Santa Fe and Pikillacta are comparable to each other
because of the fact that they have roughly the same topography. They also both sustain
a grid-plan and are roughly the same in size. Pikillacta was a military outpost
built by the Wari people during the middle horizon period. Like Santa Fe the
city is constructed as a walled compound built in a rectangular shape with
limited entry/exit points. Santa Fe also has a main street called Calle Real de
Santa Fe that runs from one end of the city to the other and connects to the
high way A-329 that goes straight to Granada. It is clear to me that this is a
way of organising the space in order to control the comings and goings of
people. It most likely made things easier for importation and exportation of
goods. At the center of the city there is a plaza with a big, Neo-Romanesque
Basilica on the East end. Since the basilica is situated at the heart of the
city and is also the tallest building, is it quite possible that it is
recognised as the most important structure that conveys the values and goals of
Santa Fe´s founders. From a military perspective, Santa Fe was surrounded by a
large, brick wall. Parts of it still remain especially at the entrance and exit
of the down town area on Calle Real de Santa Fe. The tall wall was capped by
octagonal watch towers as well as an adjacent bell tower. The plain offers
great, undisturbed sight lines which allow the inhabitants of the city to see
from a distance and sound the alarm if the enemy was spotted at a distance.
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