What a Córdoba patio is
It is a working courtyard inside an ordinary house: whitewashed walls, a well or a fountain, and pots — often a hundred of them — hung up the walls and stacked on the ground. It is a cooling device before it is a decoration, which is why it exists here and not further north.
⭐ The tradition was inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2012.
May
For roughly two weeks in May the city holds a patio festival and competition, and courtyards that are private the rest of the year open to anyone who walks in. ⚠️ It is the single biggest variable in a trip here. If the patios are why you are coming, the month decides your trip more than anything else on this site.
The rest of the year
A smaller number stay open, some free and some ticketed, mostly around San Basilio. Palacio de Viana keeps twelve of them open as a museum, which is the reliable answer in any month.
They are homes. Be quiet, do not go into the house, and ask before photographing anyone.
