Guided tour San Juan de la Cruz. The Carmen of the Martyrs

This high quality specialised guided tour allows us to get to know one of the most important places in Granada for the beauty of its gardens, but also for the history and spirituality contained within its walls. We are talking about the Carmen de los Mártires, called in Nasrid times the Campo de Ahabul and in the time of the Catholic Monarchs, Campo de los Cautivos or Campo de los mártires, due to the underground dungeons that housed enslaved Christian prisoners.

In the Carmen de los Mártires there are still remains that bear witness to the passing of one of the most universal poets in history: Saint John of the Cross. His poetry and mysticism, intelligent and sensitive, has deeply touched not only personalities such as Saint Therese of Lisieux, Edith Stein or John Paul II, but also all human sensibilities, religious or not.

As Antonio Machado said of him: the most poet of saints..., and the holiest of all poets.

Enjoying and getting to know the Carmen de los Mártires will also allow us to walk at the foot of the walls of the Alhambra, feeling the peace and beauty of its forests and monuments. The Cuesta de Gomérez, the historical axis that separates the Sabika hill from the Mauror hill, will lead us to the city centre, where the footprints of San Juan de la Cruz are still visible today.

We will learn not only about the life and literary work of Juan de la Cruz, but also about the four Carmelite convents that coexisted in Granada from 1508 and the reasons that caused the separation of the Carmelite order into two branches: calzados and descalzos.

The close link with Saint Teresa of Jesus in the reform of the Carmelite order takes us directly to Granada in the last years of the Saint's founding activity, shortly before her death. Teresa of Jesus did not hesitate to rely on her beloved father, St. John of the Cross, to found the convent of the Discalced Carmelites of St. Joseph in Granada, which is still standing.

Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross are the greatest exponents of universal mystical literature. Their beautiful literary texts will give meaning and content to the guided tour, to discover their traces in the Granada of the 16th century, where, in addition to the Catholic Reformation and the Council of Trent, there were turbulent times with the rebellions of the Moors.

Available language for the route: Spanish.