Sacromonte

Sacromonte means "sacred mountain", but for Spaniards and foreign travellers alike it is synonymous with flamenco and all-night gypsy parties. A warren of narrow, cobble-stone alleys, the quarter rises on a hill opposite the Alhambra, and acquired its name after the discovery of remains believed to be of Christian martyrs in Roman times, including Granada’s patron, San Cecilio; the Sacromonte Abbey was erected on the spot.
By the 19th century, the area had become home to a substantial Gitano community, who built their homes in caves excavated from the soft rock of the hillside. The area became famous for Flamenco music and dancing, but major floods and forced evacuations in the 1960s left the neighborhood population dramatically reduced. Since the early 1990s, however, the area has slowly become developed as a tourist attraction, and as a centre of Gitano culture.