Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos: opening hours, price and what is open now

What is open and what is not in 2026

The Alcázar has been a building site for a while. In July 2025 the council announced that the interior was 'temporarily closed for improvement works' and opened the gardens free of charge that summer, with access from the riverside road, Ronda de Isasa. That free period ended in mid-September 2025. Today the gardens are ticketed.

The works are funded by the European Union. The council's EU funds page lists the restoration of the south and west façades, better access between the upper and lower gardens, and a full renewal of the building's installations. The deadline shown there is 30 June 2026, yet in November the closure notice is still up on the ticket site.

The same notice warns of something else: lights and speakers from the night-time sound and light show are visible in the gardens. If you are after a clean photograph of the pools, expect them in the frame.

Winter and summer opening hours

The winter timetable runs from 16 September to 15 June: Tuesday to Friday 8:15 to 20:15, Saturdays 9:30 to 17:30, Sundays and public holidays 8:15 to 14:15.

The summer timetable runs from 16 June to 15 September: Tuesday to Sunday 8:15 to 13:00. The council's summer 2026 guide listed 8:15 to 14:15 with early closing at 13:00 because of the heat, and 13:00 is the time the ticket site keeps. It is closed on Mondays all year.

Ticket prices and who gets in free

A general ticket for the gardens costs €6.71 and a reduced one €3.56 when bought online from the official site. Both municipal combined passes show a slightly higher price at the ticket office than online, so buying ahead pays off.

The reduced ticket is for large families, youth card holders, university students up to 26 (the international ISIC card is accepted), over-65s and members of ICOM and museum professionals' associations. Bring the card or your passport.

• Free: under-17s.
• Free: residents of the municipality of Córdoba.
• Free: unemployed visitors.
• Free: visitors with a disability of 33% or more, plus a companion if one is needed for the visit.
• Free: European teachers and official guides.
• Alcázar gardens plus Caliphal Baths pass: €7.16 online, €7.50 at the ticket office.
• Five-site pass (gardens, Caliphal Baths, Bullfighting Museum, Julio Romero de Torres Museum and Fosforito Flamenco Centre): €13.91 online, €15 at the ticket office.

What you see in the gardens

The gardens cover about 55,000 square metres and follow the Islamic garden tradition: local plants, fountains and long pools. The large pools on the upper level date from the 19th century. This is the best-known view of the Alcázar, with the walls and towers behind.

You can pick out the towers from outside. The Torre del Homenaje (the keep), to the north-east, is the main one: oaths to defend the fortress were sworn there and kings were proclaimed. The Torre del León, to the north-west, is the oldest and takes its name from a gargoyle. The Torre de la Inquisición, to the south-west, is round and once held the archive. A fourth tower, known as the Paloma or the Vela, survives only in old engravings.

What the interior holds, for when it reopens

The present building was ordered by King Alfonso XI in 1328, on a site with Roman, Visigothic and Islamic remains that had been a royal residence since the Christian conquest of 1236. Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Monarchs, prepared the conquest of Granada here, and it was here that they held talks with Christopher Columbus before his first voyage. It later served as a seat of the Inquisition, a prison from 1822 to 1931 and a military site, until it passed to the city council in 1955.

Inside are the Salón de los Mosaicos, the former Inquisition chapel, with Roman mosaics hung on its walls; a 3rd-century Roman sarcophagus found in 1958; the royal baths, with their cold, warm and hot rooms; and the Patio Morisco. All of that lies in the closed area.

The combined pass with the Caliphal Baths

With the interior shut, the obvious companion visit is the Baños del Alcázar Califal (Caliphal Baths), on the square called Campo Santo de los Mártires, beside the Alcázar. They keep the same winter hours as the gardens and stay open until 14:15 in summer. A single ticket costs €3.11 on the municipal site, with the same free categories.

One warning about the five-site pass: it includes the Julio Romero de Torres Museum, which in November 2026 is temporarily closed for maintenance, according to the notice on the ticket site itself.

Practical tips

There is very little shade around the pools. From June to September the council closes at 13:00 because of the heat, and even then the comfortable option is to go in at 8:15. In winter you can go in the afternoon from Tuesday to Friday, as the gardens stay open until 20:15.

Tickets are sold by date on the Museos Municipales de Córdoba website (available in English) and at the ticket office. Free and reduced entry must be proven with a document.

On accessibility, all the council publishes is that the current works include improving the route between the upper and lower gardens. If you use a wheelchair, write to the municipal museums first (museos@ayuncordoba.es) and ask what the route is like at the moment.