A New Boutique Hotel in Écija, Andalusia,
Spain - 'Palace of the Pomegranates'
Palacio de los Granados Casual
elegance & style in a restored Baroque Palace
2007 Winner - Condé Nast Johansens'
Most Excellent Service Award!
Washington Irving
Although all American Students are familiar with the author Washington
Irving from their required reading of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow',
it comes as quite a surprise to many travelers that Irving is famous
throughout Spain and revered in Andalucia.
His book 'The Alhambra' published in 1832 is a series of stories which are
required reading for all students in Spain. The text of many of
these stories are available online at several websites:
You will find many references to Washington Irving in Andalucia including
a 'Washington Irving Trail' for those of you who are driving through the
South of Spain. Our hotel in Écija has named one of our rooms after
this great author who visited Ecija during his time in Spain.
From 1826 until 1829 Irving was a member of the staff of the United States
legation in Madrid.
During this period and after his return to England, he wrote several
historical works, the most popular of which was the History of Christopher
Columbus (1828).
Another well-known work of this period was The Alhambra (1832), a series
of sketches and stories based on Irving's residence in 1829 in an ancient
Moorish palace at Granada, Spain.
In 1832, after an absence that lasted 17 years, he returned to the United
States, where he was welcomed as a figure of international importance.
Over the next few years Irving traveled to the American West and wrote
several books using the West as their setting. These works include A Tour
on the Prairies (1835), Astoria (1836), and The Adventures of Captain
Bonneville, U.S.A. (1837).
In 1842 Irving was appointed U.S. minister to
Madrid, where he lived until 1846, continuing his historical research and
writing. He returned to the United States again in 1846 and settled at
Sunnyside, his country home near Tarrytown, New York, where he lived until
his death.
