San Basilio quarter and its patios

You are in the San Basilio quarter, the old Alcázar Viejo, an area that was walled in the second half of the fourteenth century beside the royal palace. Its straight streets and low houses hide some of the most prize-winning patios in Córdoba.

1The patio, a house turned inwards

The Cordoban patio is heir to the Roman and the Andalusi house: an open space at the heart of the home, with a well or a fountain, that brought coolness in the scorching summers of the Guadalquivir valley. In many shared houses, several families had a patio, a well and a kitchen in common, and looked after them together. The walls filled up with pots: geraniums, ivy-leaved pelargoniums, carnations and jasmine.

2A festival on UNESCO’s list

In 1921 the city council held the first patio competition, with just three entrants. Today the Patio Festival, in the first weeks of May, opens dozens of houses to the public and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. In 2012 UNESCO inscribed it on the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

A patio is not a stage set: behind every pot is a family that waters it every day. If a door is open, look respectfully and ask before stepping in.

Outside May, some patios in the quarter usually open for organised visits; check the official Córdoba Patios website. Close by are the Royal Stables, founded by Philip II in 1570.

3What to look for

• The open doorways that reveal the patio.
• The pots hung in rows on the walls.
• The pebbled floors with their patterns.