Palacio de Viana — Attraction in Córdoba

I really wish we had a better experience. The tour is only in Spanish (which I wish was better communicated on the website prior to buying the tickets) but not every person that visits this place speaks Spanish naturally since this city does have a lot of tourists. We speak English and Romanian. They have brochures that they hand out but the brochures are lacking in information when comparing to the guide that was speaking for quite a while about the rooms. This was very unfortunate. The other thing that bothered me was how unkind the guide was towards those that did not speak Spanish. It didn’t really bother me that she spoke Spanish but she (the brunette guide) was very rude and disrespectful if you asked her any questions or asked to clarify anything. It kind of ruined the entire experience. We were made to feel so unwelcome that we just left at the very beginning. They also don’t refund your tickets. Just a word of warning towards those that don’t speak Spanish and are looking forward to knowing more about the tour and the palace. The only that was lovely were the gardens. They were well maintained and beautiful. The only part of the tour that...

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Unmissable! Just fabulous.

Like Topsy, this palace just growed and growed.

It started off as an aristocratic house, owned in the 15th Century by Don Gome. By marriage, inheritance, purchase and doubtless some wheeling and dealing, the family acquired adjoining houses and land until it became its current size.

The palace overall has been in the same family - passing to sons, to wives, to nephews, from the 15th century until 1980, when the widow of the last owner, then aged 80, put it up for sale.

There was local disquiet, as it was felt to be an important part of local history, and so the charitable foundation of the local Savings Bank, CajaSur , stepped in to buy it, restore and maintain it, and open it to the public.

The citizens of Cordoba visited it for the first time in the 1980's therefore. Except for those who had been maids, cooks, gardeners, footmen, washerwomen, bootboys and all the other downstairs staff needed to run the palace.

You can visit the house, which we chose not to do, as we were not too keen on room after room of furniture.

We visited the 12 patios and a garden....

What a beautiful place! An absolute must-visit on your visit to Córdoba. Personally, I enjoyed it even better than the Mezquita and all the cathedrals and churches I visited. This place has a sense of peace, and connection to nature I truly loved. I came towards their closing hour, so there was no need to purchase a ticket ahead of time and no waiting time. I don’t know how it is at other times of the day, however. There was also very few people, I saw 4 other visitors, besides myself, which was a very welcome sight after the half-hour long lines I experienced at some other local monuments. I’ve never seen a green fence made of citrus trees before, but there is one here, there’s quite a few historial artifacts displayed inside, besides the beautiful patios with fountains and gardens. There must be hundreds of types of plants inside. The smells are lovely, and especially the jasmine flowers, which are my absolute favorites. Really recommend...