Hidden away on a steep slope in the Albaicín, the Carmen de la Victoria represents one of Granada's most intriguing architectural stories. This isn't your typical tourist attraction – it's a university guesthouse that occupies what was once a fascinating patchwork of properties, including parts of a vanished convent and traditional Granadan estates.

The site itself tells a complex tale. What you see today emerged in the late 19th century when six separate plots were merged together, some acquired during the desamortization process that dismantled religious properties throughout Spain. The original Carmen de la Victoria stood alongside the Carmen del Olivarillo and Huerto del Pencal, separated by remnants of the old Arab wall that still cuts through the grounds.

Walking through these gardens, you get a real sense of how Granada's famous carmenes evolved. These aren't just pretty gardens – they're direct descendants of the pleasure orchards that wealthy Arabs created around the medieval city. The current layout follows early 20th-century regionalist design principles, with boxwood-bordered geometric plots, fountains tucked into pathway intersections, and the distinctive terraced structure that makes the most of this hillside location.

The University of Granada took over in 1945, initially housing students from the Moroccan Protectorate due to its proximity to the School of Arab Studies. That original purpose has long since disappeared, but the academic connection preserved what might otherwise have been lost to development pressure.

Most of the original buildings didn't survive the conversion to modern accommodation needs. The current main building dates from the 1960s, designed by Miguel Olmedo Collantes to house more residents than the old carmen structure could manage. Only fragments remain from earlier eras – those cast iron columns now decorating the lower pond were salvaged from demolition rubble and given new life around a female nude statue.

The gardens themselves are the real survivors here. Three distinct areas – the Main Garden, Lower Garden, and North Garden – maintain that essential carmen character of enclosed, terraced green space that feels completely separate from the city below, even though you're right in the heart of historic Granada.

If you're interested in understanding how these unique Granadan spaces actually function, rather than just photographing them, an audio guide can provide deeper context about the Islamic agricultural traditions that shaped this landscape centuries ago.