Garden traditions
Courtyard gardens of Andalusia
Enclosed patios of water, tile and potted flowers in southern Spain, from the Alhambra to the house courtyards of Córdoba.
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In the hot towns of Andalusia, life turns inward to the patio, an open courtyard at the centre of the house. It has a fountain or a well, tiled walls and floors, and plants in pots. The form goes back to Roman houses and was refined during the centuries of Islamic rule. In May, Córdoba's residents open their patios to the public.
What it is
A patio is a room without a roof. Thick walls shade it, and water cools the air. In the palaces of the Alhambra in Granada, a long pool edged with clipped myrtle fills the Court of the Myrtles, and a narrow canal with arching jets runs the length of the Generalife's main court. In ordinary houses the same ideas appear in small: a central well, a lemon or orange tree, and whitewashed walls hung with flowerpots.
Where it comes from
Roman houses in Spain were built around a courtyard. The rulers of al-Andalus, from the eighth century to the fifteenth, added the garden ideas of the Islamic world: running water, sunken beds, scent and shade, and the four-part plan. The court of orange trees beside the great mosque of Córdoba is one of the oldest continuously planted gardens in Europe. Similar courtyard houses and gardens, called riads, are found across the water in Morocco.
The Córdoba patios
In the old quarters of Córdoba, several families often share a house around one courtyard. They cover the walls from ground to roof with pots of geraniums, carnations and trailing plants, watered with a can fixed to a long pole. For about two weeks in the first half of May the city holds a competition, and the patios are open free of charge. UNESCO listed the festival as intangible cultural heritage in 2012.
How to take part
- Visit Córdoba in the first half of May for the patio festival, and pick up the route map from the tourist office.
- Go when the patios open in the late morning, or in the evening, and avoid the weekend if you can.
- Book Alhambra tickets well in advance. Entry to the Nasrid palaces is at a fixed time.
- Leave a coin in the dish by the door. It helps pay for plants and water.
Good manners
- These are homes. Enter only patios marked as open, and wait your turn at the door.
- Do not touch the pots or move them for a photograph.
- Keep your voice down. People live a few steps away.
The flowers
PelargoniumA diverse group of flowering plants often grown as garden and house plants
CarnationA fragrant flower with ruffled petals, grown worldwide for decoration and meaning
Common jasmineA climbing plant with white, fragrant flowers grown in gardens and for perfume
Bitter orangeThe citrus tree behind Seville orange marmalade and Neroli oilAlso part of it, and being written: Bougainvillea, Myrtus communis, Garden roses.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the Phool desk, written with AI assistance. Customs vary from place to place. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pelargonium: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bitter orange: A. Barra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dianthus: Darkone ( talk · contribs ), CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Common jasmine: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 2.0, source