Patios, gardens, and courtyards. Explorations of Cordoba.
Cordoba, Spain is a treasure. The city has four UNESCO world heritage sites inside of the city limits! Who couldn’t love that? Well, me.
Don’t get me wrong. I did love wandering the streets and the Mesquita-Catedral was amazing. I just visited at a bad time. There were random holiday closures and then the Monday curse where most museums and historic sites are closed. The real problem is that I visited Seville first, fell in love and then compared it to Cordoba. I still recommend visiting Cordoba though.
The area that would eventually become the city of Cordoba started out as an Iberian settlement around the 8th century BCE. Then Cordoba went through the series of conquerors most other early Spanish cities endured, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors and then the Christians. Not much remains of Roman and Visigothic Cordoba, but Moorish Cordoba is still very evident.
The center of Cordoba is dominated by the Mezquita-Catedral, the former mosque turned into a cathedral, but I will be sharing that wonderfulness in a future post. It was my first visit in Cordoba, so I’m going to jump ahead to the medieval streets of Cordoba.
I apologize in advance. This post is a bit long, but I wanted to fit it all into one. Enjoy!
A typical central street in Cordoba. Andalusian yellow is popular and so is a rich blue.
More Andalusian yellow in Nuestra Señora de la Paz.
The Puerta Sevilla.
Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de la Salud. Of course, I found a cemetery. The cemetery is right on the edge of the center of Cordoba.
The Guadalquivir River. Most of Cordoba is on the left side of the river.
The very much restored Ancient Roman Bridge and the Torre de la Calahorra, which was built during the Moorish era of Cordoba.
La Casa del Judío, also known as Palace of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, is a Moorish style palace that was built on the remains of the Ancient Roman theater of Cordoba.
Cordoba is famous for its patio culture. Patios and any other outside area of buildings are filled with potted plants and such. Having an actual patio is not a requirement to decorate, balconies, roofs, windows, and doorways are also perfect.
A row of blue pots leads you to a cute courtyard.
Very cute.
This patio is decorated like the Mezquita-Catedral.
That is one very blue house.
The Jewish quarter (Barrio de la Juderia) is adorable. This is where many of the patios are located. There is an entire UNESCO heritage festival dedicated to the patios.
The poinsettias are still out from Christmas.
A busy plaza with the bell tower of the Mezquita-Catedral in the background.
Cordoba had large areas of the town center as pedestrian only. This allows cafes to put their seating in the middle of the road. I approve.
The Casa del Indiano, a 15th century Gothic-Mudejar style palace.
A random Ancient Roman mausoleum in a city park.
A very impressive 18th century former monastery that now holds government offices.
All that remains of an Ancient Roman temple.
I finished the day at the more modern Plaza de las Tendillas.
I started the next day at Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (the Alcázar of the Christian Kings). The Alcázar was built in the 14th century. You can only see a bit of the actual castle at the moment, but the gardens are the real attraction. Having gardens here predates the Christian castle. The current gardens date from a major remodel in the mid-21st century.
The Alcázar’s walls.
The Courtyard of the Moriscos.
It’s a very lovely garden.
Fountains are everywhere.
The garden is surrounded by walls and towers.
There were several water features.
A very pretty garden.
A toddler tried to climb into this fountain when his parents were just trying to get a nice family photo.
The Molino de la Alegría (the Wheel of Happiness), one of the many waterwheels that once were along the Guadalquivir River.
San Francisco y San Eulogio, one of the few churches that I found open.
A very pretty church. Glad I stopped in when I saw the doors open.
The extremely hard to photograph, but lovely Cordoba Synagogue from the 14th century.
If you are looking for a place to eat, the 17th century Plaza de la Corredera is the place to go. Most of the plaza was packed full of tables.
I spent most of the morning of my last day in Cordoba roaming around looking for a church that was open. The ones you pay for weren’t for some reason.
San Pablo from behind the gate. Even the hours on the gates were wrong. Sigh.
San Lorenzo Mártir de Cordoba, which was somehow open. A ton of construction in front of it though.
Nice and Gothic and dark.
A very colorful alley.
I love it when someone’s private garden spills over into the street.
I decided to only go to one overpriced patio. I chose the Palacio de Viana. It was a good choice.
I chose to only do the ground floor and patios as I had a long drive later. Here’s the carriage house and a fancy carriage.
You can explore the patios and service areas of the palace without a guide.
The awesomely named Courtyard of the Cats.
Cordoban patio decor is strong in this palace.
Courtyard of the Oranges was part of the original 14th century palace.
Fountains in every courtyard it seems.
The Courtyard of the Bars has sooo many poinsettias. There are giant windows that open up to the street in this courtyard, to show off to the neighbors, I guess.
The Courtyard of the Columns is a 1980s addition onto the palace.
The last patios on the visit are a bit less fancy but I love them.
The Courtyard of the Gardeners.
So, Cordoba isn’t all that bad. It’s easy to spend a couple of days here and explore. Just avoid the holiday season. Random closures all around.
Check out my next update where I will be exploring the gem of Cordoba, the Mesquita-Catedral!
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
