The most beautiful streets in Córdoba
Cordoba, a city full of charm in southern Spain, is known for its narrow cobbled streets that awaken the romantic spirit of any visitor. Among its many hidden gems are some of the most beautiful and picturesque streets in Spain. In this article, we will explore six of these fascinating streets: Calleja de las Flores, Cuesta del Bailío, Calle de las Siete Cabezas, Calleja de la Luna and Calleja del Pañuelo. Each of these streets has its own unique history and charm that sets them apart.
Calleja de las Flores
We begin our tour of Cordoba’s most beautiful streets with the famous Calleja de las Flores, which has become one of the city’s icons. This narrow alleyway is located in the heart of the old town and is known for its facades filled with pots of colourful flowers. Every corner of the Calleja de las Flores is postcard perfect, with its whitewashed walls and balconies adorned with geraniums and bougainvillea. From the small square at the end of the street we can enjoy one of the most beautiful views of the tower of the Mosque-Cathedral.
Calleja del Pañuelo
Calleja del Pañuelo is one of the narrowest streets in Cordoba and is so named because of its small size, where two people can barely pass each other. The real name of the street is Pedro Jiménez and it is one of the narrowest in Europe. It gets its name because it is about 50 centimetres wide, coinciding with the measurements of the handkerchiefs that the old knights wore in their lapels. The street leads to a dead-end square where there is a fountain, the remains of an old column, some orange trees and a few houses.
Cairuán Street
This is a picturesque street that runs along a stretch of one of Cordoba’s perfectly preserved city walls (outside the city walls). It owes its name to the Tunisian city of Kairouan, twinned with Cordoba, which has a mosque that bears many similarities to ours. It is also known as the “street of the wise men” because at each end of the street there are sculptures of the city’s famous scholars, Averroes and Seneca Along the street there are ponds that channel the water of a stream that comes from the mountains and which dates back to Roman times.
Siete Cabezas Street
Also known as the Calleja de los Arquillos, this is a narrow alleyway that dates back to medieval times and oozes magic and mystery. Legend has it that the heads of the seven princes of Lara, who died in the fields of Soria, were exhibited in the arches of the alley while their father, the lord Gonzalo Gustioz, was imprisoned in 974 in the house next door, known as “La casa de las Cabezas” (the house of the heads), which is now a museum. Historians reject the veracity of this tragic episode. This street is currently closed to the public by gates.
Cuesta del Bailío
Historically it was one of the communications of the city of Cordoba between the upper city, known as Medina or Villa, and the lower city, known as the Axerquia, and it crossed the wall of Roman origin. Although it was initially a slope, it was remodelled in the 1940s and became a staircase with thirty-two steps in typical Cordovan Chinese style with decorative designs. At the top of the slope is a stately Renaissance-style house, known as the Casa del Bailío, which connects to the right with the Plaza de Capuchinos, where the famous Cristo de los Faroles (Christ of the Lanterns) is located.
Calleja de la Luna
It is accessed from the Puerta de la Luna, one of the entrances from the wall to the Jewish Quarter. The passageway from the gate leads to a pretty square where you can see a column on which there is a virgin forged in iron, the Virgin of Luna, and a fountain in which the god Pan is depicted. To the left is the narrow, zigzagging Calleja de la Luna, which passes through two stately houses, one of which was the birthplace of the writer Luis de Góngora.
