Día de San Rafael, Custodian of Córdoba The Custodian's local holiday: the Juramento, triunfos and a perol in the countryside
All the information
About the event
24 October is a local public holiday in the city of Córdoba, dedicated to the archangel San Rafael, custodian of the city. The day revolves around the church of the Juramento, in San Lorenzo, with services and visits to the image. Many families celebrate it with the traditional perol in the countryside.
Key points
- Local holiday in the city of Córdoba only; in 2026 it falls on a Saturday
- Services at the church of the Juramento, open all day
- The perol tradition at Los Villares or La Asomadilla
What it is / What you'll see
The rest of the Church celebrates the archangels on 29 September, but Córdoba keeps its feast for 24 October, the only day of the year dedicated to the Custodian alone. The centre of it all is the church of the Juramento de San Rafael, in the San Lorenzo neighbourhood. There the brotherhood organises a triduum, its principal service and the Mass of the day, and people from Córdoba drop in to see the image and leave flowers. Outside the church, the custom is the perol: rice with meat cooked in the open air, with remojón of orange and salt cod, olives and Montilla-Moriles wine. It is also a good day to go round the triunfos, the monuments to San Rafael dotted around the city.
Getting there and tickets
The church of the Juramento is in the Plaza de San Rafael, in the San Lorenzo neighbourhood. The services are free and the church is open all day. The brotherhood publishes the times of Masses and services in the days beforehand, so it is worth checking them. For the perol, the most popular spots are the Los Villares country park and La Asomadilla: you need to get there early to find a place. These are the best-known triunfos of the archangel: the one at the Puerta del Puente, next to the Mezquita-Catedral, the one on the Puente Romano, the one in the Plaza del Potro and the one in the Plaza de la Compañía.
