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The narrow streets, the winding alleys and small out-of-the-way plazas, where the white limestone shines, where you can still hear the murmur of the water fountains and where you are surrounded burgundy geraniums and elongated plantains, in a warm environment, that tease your five senses.
The artistic quarter of Córdoba, reachable from the Via Augusta (Augustus Way)and the Roman Bridge, surrounded partly by remains of the city walls and the ochre waters of the Guadalquivir River, constitutes its own world. The Street of the Flowers as well as any spot within the Juderia (the old Jewish quarter) offer typical imagery of this city. Between the whitewash, radiant bronze and sculptures as visible: the Maimonides of Plaza of Tiberiades, or the Seneca from the Almodovar Gate; or the Synagogue, at the junction of several walls. Along the city walls, which are besieged by gardens and ponds, the white sculpture of Averroes, another great Corbesian philosopher, stands guard.
Streets from the Judería: This city quarter was inhabited by Spanish Jews, Sephardics Jews, and is made up of winding little beautiful streets dates as far back as the I century, reaching is zenith in the X century with the Jewish academies that it hosted. It would be from here where most of the advances of the Middle Ages would spring to life, since Córdoba was a cradle for poets, scientists, and philosophers which are remembered with the street names. |
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Typical Patio of Córdoba: At any time, behind any door, you can find the typical Cordobesian patio of great historical importance, where the water murmurs, the flowers seem to speckle the walls and the grates of the windows with blood, and the Crosses of May come alive between the notes sprung from the strings of a guitar or the depth of cante, that mixes the fiber of life in a laughter centered in the mixture of the cultures.
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The Cordobesian patios are a reminiscence of the climate conditions of this city; they are an essential part of the housing. Whitewash walls, fountains, columns, and flowers, they are simply comforting in such warm climate.
The houses that surround the patios acquire a communal life, sharing their chickens, galleries and backyard, laundry facilities, and of course, the patio, which through their careful upkeep led to the development of the traditional patio festivities. The Festivity of the Cordobesian Patios
It is celebrated after the Crosses of May, during which month Córdoba’s City sponsors a contest of patios; there are many patios, but only a small quantity of the same (about fifty) compete. Cordobesian patios are many and varied: those belonging to convents, museums, palaces, and then those that are called popular patios, which are shared by several families. There are no two patios alike other than their white wash walls, as well as some other characteristics. Each however is unique in arrangement, decoration, and landscape.
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