Zoco Municipal of Córdoba

The Zoco Municipal building is a 16th-century manor house that belonged to the Armenta family and, later, to the family of the poet Luis de Góngora, who lived in it with his relatives. It later passed to the Dukes of Almodóvar and Hornachuelos. In the 18th century it served as the Casa de las Bulas, where residents bought papal indulgences, and by the end of the 19th century it had degenerated into a communal house that came to hold 31 families of modest means.

Mayor Antonio Cruz-Conde bought the building in 1953 for 350,000 pesetas and commissioned its restoration from the architect José Rebollo Dicenta. The Zoco opened as the Municipal Museum of Cordoban Crafts and Arts on 17 May 1956, the first craft market in Spain. On 21 June 1986 mayor Herminio Trigo handed the restored workshops over to the artisans and the Cordoban Artisans' Association was formed, which has run the space ever since.

The complex is organised around a courtyard with fourteen active workshops. These are some of the most representative:

The Zoco occupies a rectangular two-storey courtyard with arches and Mudejar elements, listed as an Asset of Cultural Interest within the historic centre of Córdoba, a World Heritage Site.

A workshop of Cordoban silver and filigree, a goldsmithing technique worked in full view of the public.

Workshops such as Meryan and the Casa-Museo del Guadamecí Omeya keep alive the technique of embossed and gilded leather that made Córdoba internationally famous.

Workshops such as Alfar Baraka and Cerámicas Rakú make traditional Cordoban ceramic pieces.

A workshop for the handmade construction of Spanish guitars.

The Zoco Municipal courtyard opens every day, from 10:00 to 20:00, with free entry. The artisans' workshops open Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00.

The Zoco Municipal is on Calle Judíos, next to Plaza de Maimónides, halfway between the Mosque-Cathedral and the Puerta de Almodóvar. It is a short walk from the Synagogue and Casa de Sefarad, on the usual route through the Jewish Quarter.

It is a short but complete stop within the Jewish Quarter: the Synagogue, Casa de Sefarad and the Puerta de Almodóvar all fit on the same walk, all a few metres from the Zoco Municipal.