Every year, in the first half of May the Festival of the Courtyards or Patios is held in Cordoba. All the owners participating in the contest open up their courtyards for the public to visit. The tradition which was declared a part of our Intangible World Heritage by UNESCO in 2012. The festival is a competition allows you to discover the most beautiful courtyards in the “historic quarter” city and also experience the streets full of color, smell the scent of jasmine and orange blossom and hear the strains of flamenco.
History of the Patios in Cordoba
The verdant patios and courtyards of Córdoba arose out of necessity, due to the unbearable heat and dryness of the Andalusian summer. The ancient Roman and Greek inhabitants of Cordoba started building their houses with a central patio and decorated with water fountains or wells. During the time of the Moors, the patios would include plants and trees, which helped keep local homes even cooler and more sheltered from the hot sun.
Soon after, the patios started being decorated with flowers, which gave birth to the patios as we know nowadays. In 1918, the first Patios Festival took place in Cordoba, and in 2002 the UNESCO inserted it the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Types of Patios in Cordoba
There are usually two types of patios in Cordoba. The first one is the private patios which is owned and tended by a single family whose rooms are located around the patio.
The second, is a larger communal space called a neighbors house or casa de vecinos. Many years ago the large population of the city and growth in a short space of time made space become a premium. So families lived in these buildings and shared the patio, the central courtyard. These tend to be much larger and more elaborate, with long balconies, a communal wash room with adorable wood scrub boards and perhaps a fountain and decorative cobblestones.
With both types of patios they didn’t much space, so they made best use of the walls and decorated them with potted plants.
Guided tours and experiences
Exploring with someone who knows the history and has experienced the culture of the courtyards is one of the best ways to understand and value it. There are different tour companies and organizations which offer multiple experiences and guided visits to patios throughout the year. Here are our recommended tours:
Patio Festival

Obviously the best time to experience the patios of Córdoba is in the first few weeks in May, when the Festival is on. During the festival there are more than 50 courtyards of flower-filled oases, open to the public. This calm, pastoral visit of the city is also an opportunity to chat with the residents and gardeners, who get prepared all year round to offer the best sight of colorful flowers.
Alongside the competition, the Patios also host some free events. The most picturesque ones are undoubtedly those about the Flamenco traditions, which give birth to a “es la fiesta de los patios de Cordoba” or the party in the patios that lasts two weeks!
Read more about Feria de los Patios de CórdobaPatio Interpretive Center

You can experience Cordoba’s legendary courtyards all year round. One of the most beautiful Patios in town now harbors an interpretation center providing in-depth information about Cordoba’s beautiful Patios and the tradition of the famous Patio Festival.
Read more about Centro de Interpretación de la Fiesta de los Patios Trueque CuatroPalacio de Viana

In the Plaza de Don Gome stands the traditional Andalusian Renaissance mansion known as Palacio de Viana, or Viana Palace. The palace not only harbors a museum, but has twelve magnificent courtyards or patios and is often called the Patio Museum. The different floral species decorate and perfume each corner of the beautiful museum.
Read more about Palacio de los Marqueses de VianaZoco Municipal

El Zoco is a Crafts Market set in a 16th century manor house located in the heart of the Jewish quarter and is ope all year around. The souk is located on two floors around a traditional white rectangular patio with wall-flowers. This is a beautiful market with many amazing artisan stores. It is a great attraction during the patios contest in May.
Read more about El ZocoPalacio de Orive

The Villalones Palace, also called Orive Palace, is an old Renaissance palace located in Orive Square in the San Andrés-San Pablo neighborhood of Córdoba. The building, designed by the architect Hernán Ruiz II, was built in 1560.
This building comprises two patios, around which are the many rooms of the house. Even though its floral decoration is not excessive the visitor can find most traditional plants of Córdoba such as geraniums, gypsies and pilasters.
Casa Andalusí

The Casa Andalusí is a house-museum located in a restored 12th-century house in the Jewish Quarter. This building recreates an ambiance of caliphal times. A highlight is its central patio with a tinkling fountain. It also offers a variety of exhibits, mainly relating to Córdoba’s medieval Muslim culture, as well as a Roman mosaic in the cellar.
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Without a doubt, the best time of the year to visit Córdoba is in Spring when the city is in full festival mode. It all kicks off with a wine tasting festival at the end of April, comes into its own in May with the week-long Cordoba Fair, Festival of May Crosses, the Patio Festival and the Battle of the Flowers.
Battle of the Flowers

The Batalla de las Flores or Battle of the Flowers is a one day-event celebrated, at noon at the beginning of May, to mark the beginning of a month of festivals. A parade of around 20 flower covered floats pass along the Paseo de la Victoria and Argentina, carrying women beautifully attired in typical trajes de gitanas or gypsy flamenco dresses and decorated with paper flowers and images of Córdoba’s patron saint. For the Battle of the Flowers they throw hundreds of thousands of flowers from the floats to the crowds of people which the public then throw back – hence the name the “Battle of the Flowers”.
Cruces de Mayo

The Cruces de Mayo or Crosses of May festival is a religious flower festival, which lasts over four days at the beginning of May, located in Cordoba. It commemorates the cross on which Jesus was crucified and is believed to have its roots in the 4th century, when Constantine, son of Saint Helen, saw a vision of a cross in battle.
The festival consists of dozens of large crosses made of flowers set up around the city, which are put up in courtyards and squares. The churches compete to see who has the most beautiful cross. The neighborhood associations and local clubs set up outdoor bars next to the crosses and serve drinks and traditional tapas and play traditional Sevillanas music. There are maps available of where all the crosses are around the city, although you can just wander around the districts of San Basilio, San Andrés, Santa Marina, San Agustín and the city center during the May Crosses festival.
Patio Festival

In the first few weeks in May, Cordoba has its Patio Festival. During this timethere are more than 50 flower-filled courtyards, open to the public. The festival is an opportunity to chat with the residents and gardeners, who get prepare all year round to offer the best sight of colorful flowers.
The Patios often have flamenco dancers and tapas for the visitors.
Read more about Feria de los Patios de CórdobaSpring Feria

The Feria de Córdoba or the The Cordoba Fair is usually held at the end of May, located in Cordoba in Spain. It was originally to mark the feast of Our Lady of la Salud Health but like Seville’s April Fair and the Jerez Horse Fair, the Cordoba Fair celebrates the spirit of Andalucia. In addition to a big fairground, you will see a lot of horse-riders and people in traditional gypsy or flamenco dress for the ladies and wide brimmed hats for the men. There are also lots of marquees set up called casetas, each one serves fino wine and tapas. There is usually some traditional live music and flamenco dancing too. Unlike the Seville Fair all the casetas are public.
Read more about Feria de CordobaSemana Santa

Semana Santa or holy Week is a is a commemorative feast of Christ’s Passion in which the people publicly declare their faith.
For seven days the city is taken over with about 40 different floats bearing Christs and Virgins, carried by the Nazarenos, followed bands. The floats are very heavy and it is considered a great honor for members of the city’s different religious brotherhoods of Penitents to carry them through the streets of Córdoba. Large crowds gather to watch them do so and there is a solemn, religious atmosphere of hushed reverence as they pass.
Read more about Semana SantaShephardic Music Festival

The International Sephardi Music Festival has been held annually in the Botanical Garden of Córdoba since 2002 and is an intriguing festival which celebrates the Jewish customs and music that have been so influential in shaping the city’s culture over the centuries.
Shephardic bands come from all over the world to perform in one of the several concerts that take place over a week in June. There area also dance workshops, demonstrations of Jewish cooking, wine tastings, lectures and exhibitions.
The festival is usually celebrated in Córdoba’s charming Jewish quarter, Juderia.
Read more about Festival Internacional de Música SefardíFestival de la Guitarra

The Festival de la Guitarra or Festival of the Guitar is usually held during the first fortnight of July in Córdoba. It is a highly regarded international guitar festival which is one of the highlights on the city’s events calendar. There are performances by well-known artists and there are also training courses around the city covering just about everything related to guitars and flamenco music.
Read more about Festival de la GuitarraCata del Vino Montilla-Moriles en Córdoba

Every year, the Montilla-Moriles Wine Tasting serves as an prelude to the Cordovan May Festivals. This prestigious wine comes from the countryside to the south of the Cordovan capital, and comes under the Denomination of Origin Montilla-Moriles.
Read more about Cata del Vino Montilla-Moriles en CórdobaSave this Guide for later!

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Every year, in the first half of May the Festival of the Courtyards or Patios is held in Cordoba. All the owners participating in the contest open up their courtyards for the public to visit. The tradition which was declared a part of our Intangible World Heritage by UNESCO in 2012. The festival is a competition allows you to discover the most beautiful courtyards in the “historic quarter” city and also experience the streets full of color, smell the scent of jasmine and orange blossom and hear the strains of flamenco.
History of the Patios in Cordoba
The verdant patios and courtyards of Córdoba arose out of necessity, due to the unbearable heat and dryness of the Andalusian summer. The ancient Roman and Greek inhabitants of Cordoba started building their houses with a central patio and decorated with water fountains or wells. During the time of the Moors, the patios would include plants and trees, which helped keep local homes even cooler and more sheltered from the hot sun.
Soon after, the patios started being decorated with flowers, which gave birth to the patios as we know nowadays. In 1918, the first Patios Festival took place in Cordoba, and in 2002 the UNESCO inserted it the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Types of Patios in Cordoba
There are usually two types of patios in Cordoba. The first one is the private patios which is owned and tended by a single family whose rooms are located around the patio.
The second, is a larger communal space called a neighbors house or casa de vecinos. Many years ago the large population of the city and growth in a short space of time made space become a premium. So families lived in these buildings and shared the patio, the central courtyard. These tend to be much larger and more elaborate, with long balconies, a communal wash room with adorable wood scrub boards and perhaps a fountain and decorative cobblestones.
With both types of patios they didn’t much space, so they made best use of the walls and decorated them with potted plants.
Guided tours and experiences
Exploring with someone who knows the history and has experienced the culture of the courtyards is one of the best ways to understand and value it. There are different tour companies and organizations which offer multiple experiences and guided visits to patios throughout the year. Here are our recommended tours:
Patio Festival

Obviously the best time to experience the patios of Córdoba is in the first few weeks in May, when the Festival is on. During the festival there are more than 50 courtyards of flower-filled oases, open to the public. This calm, pastoral visit of the city is also an opportunity to chat with the residents and gardeners, who get prepared all year round to offer the best sight of colorful flowers.
Alongside the competition, the Patios also host some free events. The most picturesque ones are undoubtedly those about the Flamenco traditions, which give birth to a “es la fiesta de los patios de Cordoba” or the party in the patios that lasts two weeks!
Read more about Feria de los Patios de CórdobaPatio Interpretive Center

You can experience Cordoba’s legendary courtyards all year round. One of the most beautiful Patios in town now harbors an interpretation center providing in-depth information about Cordoba’s beautiful Patios and the tradition of the famous Patio Festival.
Read more about Centro de Interpretación de la Fiesta de los Patios Trueque CuatroPalacio de Viana

In the Plaza de Don Gome stands the traditional Andalusian Renaissance mansion known as Palacio de Viana, or Viana Palace. The palace not only harbors a museum, but has twelve magnificent courtyards or patios and is often called the Patio Museum. The different floral species decorate and perfume each corner of the beautiful museum.
Read more about Palacio de los Marqueses de VianaZoco Municipal

El Zoco is a Crafts Market set in a 16th century manor house located in the heart of the Jewish quarter and is ope all year around. The souk is located on two floors around a traditional white rectangular patio with wall-flowers. This is a beautiful market with many amazing artisan stores. It is a great attraction during the patios contest in May.
Read more about El ZocoPalacio de Orive

The Villalones Palace, also called Orive Palace, is an old Renaissance palace located in Orive Square in the San Andrés-San Pablo neighborhood of Córdoba. The building, designed by the architect Hernán Ruiz II, was built in 1560.
This building comprises two patios, around which are the many rooms of the house. Even though its floral decoration is not excessive the visitor can find most traditional plants of Córdoba such as geraniums, gypsies and pilasters.
Casa Andalusí

The Casa Andalusí is a house-museum located in a restored 12th-century house in the Jewish Quarter. This building recreates an ambiance of caliphal times. A highlight is its central patio with a tinkling fountain. It also offers a variety of exhibits, mainly relating to Córdoba’s medieval Muslim culture, as well as a Roman mosaic in the cellar.
Read more about Casa AndalusíSave this Guide for later!![]()
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The beautiful Andalusian city of Cordoba is home to some fascinating museums, taking an in-depth look at everything from bullfighting to the glory of 10th century Andalusia, and from flamenco to flowers. Here are some of our favorites.
Palacio de Viana

The key attraction of Cordoba’s Feria de los Patios is the Palacio de Viana, a 15th-century palace that has been owned by a succession of counts, dukes and marquesses over the centuries. It was put up for sale by the last owners in the early 1980s, but influential Cordobans protested and the building was acquired by the Provincial Bank of Cordoba. The carefully maintained patios are populated with colourful plants, flowers and trees, and the palace still has the feel of a stately private residence. Admission to the palace and all 13 of Viana’s lovely patios and gardens is €8 ($9), or you can visit the grounds for €5 ($5.80).
Read more about Palacio de los Marqueses de VianaMuseo Taurino

Cordoba’s rather plain 1960s bullring lacks the historical distinction of those in other major Andalusian destinations, but the city’s Museo Taurino, or bullfighting museum, is one of the best in the province. Over several well-organised rooms, it offers a fascinating insight into the history of this controversial spectacle and its greatest practitioners, including the Cordoba-born Manolete, considered to be one of the greatest matadors of all time. A visit here is time well spent for anyone curious about this little-understood tradition, which is still an important part of Andalusian culture.
Read more about Museo Taurino de CórdobaMuseo de Bellas Artes

Cordoba’s Museum of Fine Arts is situated on one of the Old Town’s prettiest squares, in a former hospital. Over two floors it displays a permanent collection of paintings, prints and drawings by artists from the middle ages to the present day, as well as a program of temporary exhibitions. It is particularly strong on art produced by Cordoban artists from the 15th to 21st centuries, the baroque period and the 19th century.
Admission is free and the cool rooms also provide respite from the punishing heat of Cordoba in spring or summer.
Read more about Museo de Bellas Artes de CórdobaLiving Museum of al-Andalus

The Torre de la Calahorra houses the Living Museum of al-Andalus which a small but engaging museum looks at the cultural history of southern Spain and Cordoba between the 9th and 12th centuries. The museum collects, preserves, and shows artifacts and documents of the rich Cordoban history which is characterized by the peaceful coexistence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians over centuries.
Read more about Torre de la CalahorraCentro Flamenco ‘Fosforito’

The Centro Flamenco ‘Fosforito’ museum is spread over a series of rooms surrounding the Plaza del Potro. This is a fascinating museum which looks at the history of the art flamenco. The museum tells its story with interactive panels and exhibits, in English and Spanish. The visitor is taken on a journey through the evolution of flamenco and its various different styles and rhythmic forms.
It focuses on the life and work of the popular Cordoban flamenco singer Antonio Fernandez Diaz, also known as Fosforito, after whom the museum is named.
Read more about Centro Flamenco FosforitoMuseo Arqueológico

The Archaeological Museum of Córdoba is one of the most complete archaeological museums in Spain with an inventory of around 35,000 items. The museum is harbored by the former Palace of the Páez de Castillejo. This Renaissance building, along with with the collections it houses, was declared as a Historic Artistic Monument in 1962. The Museum, spread over eight exhibition rooms traces, Córdoba’s many changes in size, appearance and lifestyle from pre-Roman to early Reconquista times, with some fine sculpture, an impressive coin collection, and interesting exhibits on domestic life and religion. During renovation of the building the remains of the city’s Roman theatre were found and are now on display.
The museum has explanations in English and Spanish.
Museo Julio Romero de Torres

The Museum of Julio Romero de Torres is located in the same building as the fine arts museum, it is where he once lived and now houses this famous contemporary Cordoba painters’ works. Museum The Julio Romero de Torres Museum houses the largest collection of works by this important Spanish painter and, without a doubt, the best known in this city.
In six rooms of an old church, along with many of his works, you can see some of the artist’s belongings such as furniture, manuscripts, his brushes or his guitar. There are also different works here that, due to his death in 1930, he could not finish. A year later, his heirs inaugurated the museum, giving his visitor the opportunity to get to know the environment of that time and see how the painter lived and worked.
It also has works of other famous baroque, renaissance and contemporary painters; Zurbarán, Alejo Fernandez, Antonio del Castillo and Valdés Leal.
Read more about Museo Julio Romero de TorresCasa Andalusí

The Casa Andalusí is a restored 12th-century house located in the heart of the Jewish Quarter. This house-museum attempts to recreate an ambience of caliphal times. It has a tinkling fountain in the patio and a variety of exhibits, mainly relating to Córdoba’s medieval Muslim culture, as well as a Roman mosaic in the cellar. It is also home to the Museo del Papel (Paper Museum), an interesting journey through the manufacturing process of this material in the Cordoba Caliphate.
Read more about Casa AndalusíSave this Guide for later!

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Though the grand remnants of Moorish and Christian rule are most visible in Córdoba, this Andalucian city was once an important Roman stronghold called Corduba. Corduba was founded by General Claudio Marcelo between the years 169 BC and 152 BC as the capital of the Roman province Hispania Ulterior or Hispania – The Far.
The city suffered a minor setback during the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey’s sons as Corduba backed the loosing side. However Augustus Caesar soon assigned lands to great number of his best veterans troops who had taken part in the northern wars and gave the city back its status, under the name Colonia Patricia or Patrician Colony.
Cordoba then thrived under Roman rule, and a great number of monumental buildings as well as public works were built; including a walled perimeter was extended up to the River Betis currently or the Guadalquivir. The city must have seen great commercial and cultural activity too, as evidenced by the two forums, one colonial and one provincial, which existed here. Great public buildings were raised, like the recently discovered amphitheatre, as well as huge temples, like the one situated in Calle Claudio Marcelo, and the streets were lined with elegant sculptures.
See below for places where you’ll find vestiges of Roman influence in this southern Spanish city.
Templo Romano

The Templo Romano or Roman Temple was discovered in the 1950’s when the City Hall was being expanded. The Temple was built during the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) and ended some forty years later, during the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96 CE). It is thought that the temple was dedicated to the cult of the Emperor, and along with the Circus Maximus, would have formed part of the Provincial Forum.
The sheer size of the building is remarkable, you can see a series of towering marble columns which originally stood on a raised podium and had six free-standing Corinthian columns in the entrance, in front of which was the altar. You can find the remains of the temple at the Calle Capitulares.
Read more about Templo Romano de CórdobaPuente Romano

The Puente Romano or Roman Bridge was originally built in the first century BC across the River Betis or Guadalquivir river. This arched bridge spanning the Guadalquivir River was once part of the Via Augusta, a major Roman thoroughfare on the Iberian Peninsula. The bridge was built by the emperor Augustus and has often been repaired. The great river is navigable up to this point. From here, olive oil and ores were transported to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Mediterranean Sea. This monument was part of a larger plan to develop southern Spain; another aspect was that many veterans from the Sixth and Tenth legions were settled in this area.
Most of the current bridge dates from the Moorish reconstruction that took place in the 8th century. On one side of the bridge, you can find the Moorish Torre de la Calahorra – which houses a museum and should be visited for the views if nothing else. On the other side of the bridge, there is the Puente Romano, a Renaissance gate.
The bridge came to public’s attention when it was used as the Long Bridge of Volantis in the television series Game of Thrones.
Read more about Puente Romano de CórdobaMuseo Arqueológico de Córdoba

The Museo Arqueológico de Córdoba or the Córdoba Archaeological Museum chronicles the history of Córdoba, from prehistoric times to the Reconquista and beyond. The Roman era is well-represented, with the remains of the city’s ancient Roman theater on show and items from the Roman Temple on display.
Read more about Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico de CórdobaMosque of Córdoba (Mezquita)

The Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba or the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba is is one of the Islamic architectural highlights of the Spain. Although it was built long after the Romans had departed, materials from Roman buildings were used in its construction. Two milestones that once could be seen along the Via Augusta are now positioned at the entrance of the mosque/cathedral.
Bishop Ossius was the author of the Creed that was agreed upon during the Council of Nicaea in 325. Traces of his church, the Saint Victor, have been discovered beneath the mosque.
Read more about Mezquita-Catedral de CórdobaRoman mausoleum

The Roman mausoleum of Córdoba is an ancient structure in the Jardines de la Victoria, Córdoba, Andalusia, southern Spain. It is a funerary monument of cylinder-shaped that corresponded to a group of funerary monuments of the Republican era, built in the 1st century AD. It was discovered in 1993 during archaeological excavations.
Read more about Roman MausoleumPalacio de Maximiano Hercúleo

Located in the archaeological zone of Cercadilla , this palace dates from the time of the Roman emperor Maximiano Hercúleo during his stay in Spain between the years 296 and 297 AD. This was at the time of the first Tetrarchy, as a consequence of the dispersion of the centers of power of the Roman empire, on the one hand, and due to the incursions of frank piracy in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the other.
This building erected on a suburban villa from the high-imperial Roman period. in the time of the Visigoth it became the basilica of the Martyr San Acisclo.
Read more about Palacio de Maximiano HercúleoSave this Guide for later!

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