CORDOBA AND ITS PATIOS
    By Catherine Girdler

Flamenco Cordoba, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, is usually high on the tourist list of "must see" places. Throughout the year a steady stream of visitors will begin their visit on the opposite side of the river to photograph the glorious golden stonework of the ancient mosque and look down into the shallow waters to see the remains of the Arab flourmills.
By the 10th Century Cordoba was a thriving city. Its streets were paved; there were libraries, mosques and public baths, together with a thriving University. In those days there were a million inhabitants, today the figure is around 300,000.
Much has been written about the Grand Mosque, its pillars like some endless forest and the simple loveliness of the Mihrab. There are the tranquil gardens of the Alcazar where Columbus convinced Queen Isabella that she should back his voyage of discovery and if you are planning a day out in Cordoba I expect you will be taking a guidebook. I do not intend to add to this literature; instead I want to share with you the secrets of the Patio Festival - a pleasure only to be discovered during the month of May.
Patios can be found in many Andalusian houses, but the people in the historic old town of Cordoba have taken a special pleasure in creating beautiful patios. Each year, during the first two weeks of May, these secret gardens are opened for the general public to enjoy.
When you arrive in Cordoba it is best to go straight to the Tourist Office, situated in the Episcopal Palace, just behind the Grand Mosque. Here you can collect a small map of the town, which is divided into routes to allow you to visit each group of streets and their patios.
The old town is like a rabbit warren and all the white-painted houses look very similar. The houses are numbered, but often not consecutively, but once you have grasped this fact you can start to enjoy the patio hunt! The participating patios also display two potted conifers, placed each side of the entrance. When they are placed on the pavement they are very helpful, but more usually they were inside the house, at the patio entrance. As you look inwards from the street the passage leading to the patio is dimly lit, which makes the glorious planting even more stunning. Often the patio walls are covered with beautifully decorated tiles and the brightly coloured flowers compliment them. (Photo 1).
I remember the patio belonging to the Library. This was a peaceful place with shady trees and green shrubs - a good place to curl up with a book! There was another patio belonging to an artist. Here the cream-painted house walls were about 30 feet high. They were covered in pots of geraniums, trailing plants of all kinds and the vivid purple of the Morning Glory vine. The sight was breathtaking and none of the visitors could work out how the pots were planted and maintained! Chairs were placed close to the wall and on these were draped beautiful coloured fabrics, the work of the artist.
Cordoba's modern town also joins in the Festival. They make up for not having patios by having beautifully planted balconies.
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our day in Cordoba. We had visited the town several times in the past but on this occasion we felt we had really got to know it and found it delightful - the more you look, the more there is to discover. Take a shady hat and a comfortable pair of shoes and pause among the patios of Cordoba. (Photo 2).