Question about visiting the patios in Cordoba and specifically San Basilio

I have not thought about seeing the patios. I probably will skip them.

Yeah, it looks like the website you found is selling tickets to a guided tour of 6 locations and we can choose a tour that starts at: 10am, 12:00pm, or 5:30pm. No tours on Wednesday and no tours at 5:30pm on Sunday.

The etiquette is probably: view the patios from the edges only, don't trample onto the equivalent of private front or back yards, no pictures.

People do photograph the patios. Just google San Basilio patios and look at 'images'. Or go to TripAdvisor and look at its reviews. You'll see plenty of images. Think about the streets in your home town who do Christmas lights and scenes. Yes, they are private homes, and definitely be respectful, but when they take this on, they know it attracts many gawkers. The owners want to share their floral designs with you, and many love the attention. Go with a clear conscience.

I went to see several patios in Cordoba in 2019. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what I saw at which one. There can be year-to-year variation in what patios are open to the public, and I was working from a self-compiled list extracted from many sources, not all of them current. Still, I had no trouble determining where I was welcome, and I never felt like I was intruding, because there was always a path from the street/sidewalk to the patio that didn't involve walking through private living space. You can probably get a current list of open patios from the Cordoba tourist office; the Turismo's website is probably reasonably up to date, and it seems to have a lot of useful links: https://www.turismodecordoba.org/the-patios-of-cordoba.

The "museum" you've read about may be the display on the history of Cordoban patios that I saw somewhere. It was interesting but not large; it was mainly if not exclusively historical photographs, as I recall.

When we were in Cordoba in 2017, some of the patios were open as we walked down the lanes, and they welcomed us in to admire their patios and take a few photos. There’s also a nice combo/wall statue of a man, child on a ladder and a wall of pots.

Jean, I know the statue you are referring to having seen it in many pictures while googling patios of Cordoba :)

I guess I am just confused if I actually need to pay for something and if the patios are open only during specific hours.

It seems to me that the website I linked to for the patios of San Basilio is actually for a guided tour? Can I just walk and visit the patios on my own? Do I still need to buy some type of ticket?

FROM SEPTEMBER 1 TO OCTOBER 13
SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER
Passes morning at 10: 00h and 12: 00h
passes afternoon at 17: 30h .
Closed: Full Wednesdays and Sundays afternoons.

See the link in my earlier post. That webpage has a lot of info, including an embedded link to a document giving the opening hours of all the key sights in Cordoba, including the patio festival: https://www.turismodecordoba.org/repositorio/2020/202010160837150000001602830235.2683.pdf?cache=1602830235.4002

The document is updated monthly (I've seen similar ones for Seville and Granada, but they may not be online), and this is for May, so you'll need to check back later for updated information.

Edit: it looks like there is a festival, or contest about which participating home has the best patio. The main feature of the patios or the part most important to the contest, seems to be the plants.

It looks like this site has all the information about the homes participating in the festival: patios.cordoba.es/es/patios

The "Fiesta de los Patios" only lasts from May 3 to 16. The participating homes only open their patios to the public during the festival and only during the specified times of the day.

I don't know whether some patios will be viewable through iron gates and/or from the sidewalks, paths, or streets, when we are in Córdoba in October.

If I incidently happen to be walking and I see an unusually impressive patio, house, or other building, I might briefly glimpse it from the sidewalk only. The festival will be over. I wouldn't step onto or into private homes, somebody's private patio or the equivalent of an outdoor living room, front or back yard, or driveway or walkway.

James: the website you found, describing the guided tour, is something totally different from the "Fiesta de los Patios". The guided tour goes to 6 sites including landscaped squares or patios, and an ethnographic museum about life in homes in Córdoba before electricity.

@Mike L, Callejas de Las Flores is a little alleyway in the middle of Cordoba Old Town with floral displays similar ro what may be in a patio.....but on a much smaller scale. It is accessible to the public and was still planted and visible in November.

I was in Cordoba around Easter 2019. The patio festival was not going on at the time, but I was able to see quite a few patios. As noted upthread, people are proud of them and often happy to make them accessible. It's not just in Cordoba that you encounter open courtyards. I wouldn't venture onto random property that appears to belong to a single-family home, but these are usually shared courtyards serving multiple families. Obviously, one must respect any "Private Property" signage.

I had an interesting experience in Salamanca, which is known for pretty courtyards. I was randomly walking around, turned a corner and almost immediately saw a flower-bedecked open courtyard. At least that's what I though it was. I took a few steps inside and heard a familiar sound behind me. A garage door was lowering! I assume a car had just exited, but I hadn't seen it because I was around the corner at the time. My life sort of flashed before my eyes as I tried to decide whether I had time to dive under the door to escape. I moved rapidly back toward the opening--not having decided yes or no--and was vastly relieved when the door started rising again. Apparently I had tripped an electric eye.

It might be worth taking a look at the website, Cordoba24.info. The explanation is in English. On the website you listed, I couldn’t find a translation button, so the website I listed may help. It looks like the gardens are closed during the traditional siesta hours. When we visited it was easy to see which gardens were open because you followed the crowds. In most cases they are courtyards or just on the street.

Hi James,
My mom and I visited the patios in the San Basilio neighborhood when we visited Córdoba back in October 2015.

We didn’t buy our tickets in advance,
and had no trouble buying them the day we wanted to tour these beautiful patios.

The ticket basically includes entrance to the private patios of 5-6 homes (you’ll receive a map showing the location of the homes which are along 1-2 streets near each other), and either the homeowner, or one of the other homeowners will offer an explanation of their specific patio. We speak Spanish so I don’t recall if the explanation was also offered in English.

According to the website:

DEL 1 DE SEPTIEMBRE AL 13 DE OCTUBRE
SEPTIEMBRE A OCTUBRE
Pases de mañanas a las 10:00h y 12:00h
Pases de tardes a las 17:30h.
Cerrado: Miércoles completos y Domingos tarde.

You’re correct in terms of the times available for visiting the patios during your October visit. Basically they are open at 10am, 12pm & at 5:30pm everyday, EXCEPT for Wednesdays & Sunday afternoon.

BTW, “Fiesta de los Patios”, is a separate event, usually held in May.
You can read about this festival on the website that Patty posted up thread:
https://www.cordoba24.info

Enjoy your time in beautiful Spain!