Juderia de Cordoba

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Centre Of Cordoba, Inscribed 1984), The Medieval Jewish Quarter Around The Mezquita, With The Patio Tradition Inscribed Separately On The Intangible Cultural Heritage List In 2012 · Cordoba, Andalusia

The old Jewish quarter of Cordoba, wrapped around the Mezquita, and the reason Cordoba has no separate city row here: the mosque-cathedral outranks the town, so the quarter takes the row. In the tenth century this was the largest city in western Europe and one of the most learned in the world, with Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars working in the same institutions; Maimonides was born a few streets from the synagogue, which still stands and is one of only three medieval synagogues left in Spain. What survives now is a maze of whitewashed lanes too narrow for cars, hung with pots, and built around interior patios that are the real architecture: cool, planted, invisible from the street. In May the city opens hundreds of them to the public for a fortnight, which is a UNESCO-recognised tradition and by some distance the best time to come. Outside that the Calleja de las Flores is the photographed lane and the rest is quieter than it looks.

Calle Judios, Cordoba, Andalusia, 14004, Spain

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED, and the quarter has none: it is a residential neighbourhood of public lanes, open at any hour and lit at night. What has hours are the small ticketed sites - the synagogue, Casa de Sefarad, Palacio de Viana - which keep short daytime hours with a LONG MIDDAY BREAK and Monday closures. THE MAY PATIO FESTIVAL runs for about a fortnight with its own long daily hours including evenings. The Mezquita's free morning window is the thing to time around.

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