What to see in Granada beyond La Alhambra? Many visitors come to Granada and head to La Alhambra and the Albaicín, but, doesn’t have Granada some others must-see? We think there are, so today we would like to introduce you the Rodríguez Acosta Foundation.
The Rodríguez Acosta Foundation is one of those places in Granada that often go unnoticed or are left for a future visit to the city. Located on a slope a few meters from the Torres Bermejas, once you enter this carmen you will feel pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of a space that reminds some paintings by Giorgio de Chirico.
In the gardens you can enjoy a calm that goes beyond the Andalusian patios, is a mystical calm closer to the monastic cloisters than to the cármenes granadinos. The architecture of the Foundation is amazing, mixing elements of Greco-Roman classicism with medieval pieces and Deco lines. The importance of the building is such that it took about 15 years to finish it, having worked on it 4 architects that tried to make real the sublime dream of José María Rodríguez Acosta.
Who was Rodríguez Acosta and why did he built the Foundation?
José María Rodríguez Acosta (1878-1941) was in a certain way a man of his time. Wealthy, without financial concerns, he dedicated his life to the things he liked best: painting, traveling and collecting. The idea of a building (the current Foundation) responds to the needs and desire of having a painting studio that could also held his personal library and all the singular objects he had collected after returning from his travels.
Today a visit to the property itself is well worth it (the inner tunnels, full of legends should not be missed) but also the objects inside the building are of great interest. Books, masks, paintings, furniture, sculptures and lots of curiosities (as in a cabinet of curiosities) that one day were taken from their previous context to become a reminder of Rodríguez Acosta’s life.