From the time historical records began Granada was ruled by many Caliphs, Arabic sultans and dynasties. The Arabic/Moslem Empire once stretched right up into the north of Spain. The various Christian groups settled their differences, joined together and steadily drove the Arabs out of Spain. Granada was the last stronghold and finally succumbed to catholic monarchs Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492. The Moslems and the Jews were forced to leave the country or convert to Christianity; a period of what would nowadays be described as ethnic cleansing ensued. While many Muslim elites chose to emigrate to North Africa, the majority of the city's Muslims converted to Christianity, becoming Moriscos, Catholics of Muslim descent.

Over the course of the sixteenth century, Granada took on an ever more Christian and Castilian character, as immigrants flocked to the city from other parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The city's mosques, some of which had been established on the sites of former Christian churches, were converted to Christian uses. New structures, such as cathedral and the Chancillería, or Royal Court of Appeals, helped transform the urban landscape, and in the wake of the 1492 Alhambra decree that expelled Spain's Jewish population, Granada's Jewish neighbourhood was demolished to make way for new Christian and Castilian institutions.

The fall of Granada holds an important place among the many significant events that mark the latter half of the 15th century. It ended the eight hundred year-long Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula. Freed from internal conflict, a unified Spain embarked on its greatest phase of expansion around the globe, leading to the arrival in the Americas by Isabella's prodigy Christopher Columbus. Subsequent colonization lead to the creation of the Spanish Empire, one of the largest empires of the world for its time.