Courtyards Festival of Córdoba

The Courtyards Festival of Córdoba (also known as Patios Festival of Córdoba and Fiesta of the patios in Cordova) is a courtyard competition in Córdoba, Spain held since 1921 and generally held during the first and second week of the month of May. Participants decorate and open their courtyards for free so that they can be visited during festival hours. In 1980 they were declared a Fiestas of National Tourist Interest of Spain, and after a long process, they managed to be add to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO on December 6, 2012.[1][2]

Fiesta of the patios in Cordova
Courtyards Festival of Córdoba in 2017
CountrySpain
DomainsSocial practices, rituals and festive events
Reference846
RegionEurope and North America
Inscription history
Inscription2012 (7th session)
ListRepresentative

The courtyards during the Festival are separated in two types. Monumental and stately courtyards are courtyards inside palaces of the local aristocracy or notable religious buildings. Competition courtyards are those participated in the competition. The competition courtyards are categorized as courtyards with old architecture (pre 70's buildings) and courtyards with modern or renovated architecture.[3] The Festival continued to receive higher number of visitors. In 2018, there were 150,000 visitors during the Festival.[4]

Competition history

The first Festival was organized by the mayor Francisco Fernández de Mesa in 1921 as a "Courtyards, Balconies and Window Displays Competition." Three prizes of 100, 75 and 50 pesetas were established that were distributed among the only three participants: 8 Empedrada, in the Santa Marina neighborhood, 7 Buen Pastor and 11 Almanzor, both in the Jewish Quarter of Córdoba. Due to the poor response from the neighborhood, the contest was not held again until 1933, during the mayor Francisco de la Cruz Ceballos. That year, the courtyard contest was reborn and began to become popular, with 16 courtyards presented throughout the city, with large prizes for the time.[5][6]

Caretakers monuments

The Regadora (La Regadora): In April 2014, a couple of years after the declaration of World Heritage Site by UNESCO, a monument dedicated to caretakers was inaugurated at the Puerta del Rincón, made by José Manuel Belmonte, which represents a Cordoban woman watering some royal pots in the traditional style with the cane and the can. The cost of the constructions was 30,000 euros which were financed by Cervezas Alhambra.[7][8]

The grandfather and the child (Abuelo y Niño): In May 2015, the sculpture of the grandfather and the child was inaugurated, which represents the generational passage of the courtyard tradition, as he is handing a flower pot to the grandson who stands on a ladder. It is located at Martín de Roa street in the San Basilio neighborhood.[9][8]

The well of flowers (El Pozo de las Flores): Belmonte's last sculpture was installed on July 6, 2022, in the plaza of the poet Juan Bernier. It is the sculpture of the girl watching her grandmother who sits with a flower pot on her lap on how to take care of the courtyard.[10][8]

References
  1. "Fiesta of the patios in Cordova". UNESCO. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  2. "La Fiesta de los Patios de Córdoba, patrimonio inmaterial de la humanidad". El Pais (in Spanish). 6 December 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  3. "The Courtyards Festival of Cordoba - World Heritage". Turismo de Cordoba. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  4. "Analysis of the sustainability of the patios festival – Intangible heritage of humanity" (PDF). 10th World Conference for Graduate Research in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure. October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  5. "History of the Competition". La fiesta de los patios Córdoba. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. Cordoba es Patio (PDF) (in Spanish). 2021. p. 57. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. "Un homenaje para toda la vida". el Día (in Spanish). 30 April 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  8. "Sculptures in Tribute to the Caretakers of the Patios". Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  9. "San Basilio estrena estatua de Belmonte". Córdoba (in Spanish). 1 May 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  10. "José Manuel Belmonte cierra el círculo de su trilogía sobre los Patios de Córdoba". Córdoba (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 October 2023.
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