Palacio de Viana

Córdoba’s patios are the soul of the city, and every May the courtyard festival, inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage, opens dozens of private homes to visitors. For the rest of the year, the Palacio de Viana is where you see them. Hidden behind plain white walls in the Santa Marina quarter, north of the centre, this rambling noble house grew over about five centuries, through a line of noble owners, and it holds twelve patios and a garden, each with its own character: one with an orange grove, another with columns and fountains, another with pots climbing the whitewashed walls. The patios reflect Roman and Arab traditions of houses turned inward around cool, planted courtyards. The house belonged to the Marquises of Viana from the late nineteenth century, and after the death of the last marquise it passed to a local savings bank in 1980 and opened as a museum. Two kinds of visit are possible: the patios alone, which you explore freely with a map, or the patios plus a guided tour of the interior, with salons, bedrooms, a library of thousands of books, tapestries, paintings and a collection of tiles. This page links to the Tiqets venue page.

Choosing your ticket: the patios-only visit suits most travellers and takes about an hour at a gentle pace. The guided interior tour is in Spanish, with written material in other languages, and you must stay with the group; photography is largely restricted inside. On Tiqets, the guided tour products are marked as Spanish-language, and a combination with the Mosque-Cathedral is also sold. Opening hours have traditionally been longer on weekdays than on Sundays, and the palace closes on Mondays, so check before you go.

When to go: the patios are planted to look good all year, with orange trees and evergreens in winter and an explosion of colour from spring. May, during the Patios Festival and the Cruces de Mayo, is the most spectacular and the busiest time; in November you trade the flowers for quiet courtyards and soft light. Mornings are calmest. The palace is a fifteen to twenty minute walk from the Mezquita, through the old quarters of San Pedro and Santa Marina, which are worth exploring for their Fernandine churches and quiet squares.

Why go: Viana shows a side of Córdoba that the big monuments do not, the private world of a noble family and the way the city has always lived around its courtyards. It is calm, beautiful and rarely as crowded as the Mezquita, which makes it a good afternoon visit. Combine it with lunch in a tavern nearby and a walk back through the Plaza de la Corredera.