What the Patios Festival is
Every May, during the first fortnight, residents of Córdoba open the doors of their private patios. Shared courtyard houses, old inns and family homes show off spaces decorated with hundreds of pots of geraniums, trailing pelargoniums and jasmine. The competition has been held since 1921 and has been Intangible World Heritage since 2012.
The patios are spread across several neighbourhoods: Alcázar Viejo, San Basilio, the Jewish Quarter, Santa Marina. Each has its own personality. Some are intimate and secluded, with a central fountain and white walls. Others are explosions of colour with pots stacked up to the second floor.
When to go
The patios open from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00. Entry is free. Come on a weekday if you can — at weekends there are queues of over an hour at the most popular ones. Outside the festival, the Palacio de Viana has 12 patios that can be visited all year round.
The connection with water
The Córdoba patio inherits the tradition of the Arab patio: an open space with a central fountain where vegetation and water cool the air. It is the same philosophy that governs a hammam. It is no coincidence that our Arab baths have their own interior patio.
After the patios
May is high season. If you visit Córdoba during the festival, book the Arab baths in advance. After walking among patios and flowers, the hammam is the perfect close: feet in hot water, steam and calm flotation.