Plaza del Cristo de los Faroles in Cordoba and Plaza de Capuchinos

The history of the Plaza de Capuchinos begins long before it existed as we see it today. In 1236, after King Ferdinand III granted the site to Bartolomé Corbacho, this spot was known as the plazuela del Corbacho. Over the centuries, the area kept changing within that idea of a convent city, where religious orders set the pace of urban development.

The character of the site starts to take shape between the 16th and 17th centuries with two key presences. In 1596, Fray Pedro del Castillo founds the Hospital de San Jacinto to care for incurable patients, establishing its own rule in 1602. Later, in 1629, the Capuchin friars arrive, settling in by 1633. At that point, on 6 January 1638, the first stone of the church of the Convento del Santo Ángel is laid, but the square as an open space did not yet exist: it was an enclosed precinct, the Capuchin compás.

The square is officially born in 1730 through an agreement between neighbours. The Capuchins proposed tearing down the walls of their compás to create a large open space facing the new church of San Jacinto, in exchange for the hospital giving up privileges inherited from the marqués de Ariza, such as the private gallery overlooking the altar and the right to the garden's water supply. The deeds are formalised on 31 July 1730, and that narrow alley becomes the whitewashed, cobbled square you recognise today.

The final touch that explains why this place is so well known in Cordoba comes at the end of the 18th century: the installation of the Cristo de los Faroles is pushed forward, unveiled in 1794 following the 1786 meeting with the missionary fray Diego José de Cádiz, which strengthened ties between the City Council and the order. By the 19th century, the friars go through waves of disentailment, in 1810, 1821 and 1835, and the convent is sold and demolished, leaving the church in the hands of the Diocese. Despite the 1836 exclaustration, the square keeps its reputation as an oasis of calm, and in the 20th century its look is completed with the Cristo's railing added in the 1920s and the renovation of its lanterns in 1984.

At the Plaza de Capuchinos, the square many people come looking for as the Plaza del Cristo de los Faroles, the ensemble is easy to grasp: the Convento de los Capuchinos, the Iglesia de los Dolores and, presiding over the square, the Cristo de los Faroles.

And which way you come in matters a lot here. The square has two entrances, to the east and west: from the Cuesta del Bailío or from the Plaza de las Doblas. If you arrive via the Cuesta del Bailío, your eye goes straight to the Cristo. If you enter from the Plaza de las Doblas, the white façade of the church of the Convento de los Capuchinos dominates the view.

The Cristo de los Faroles presides over the Plaza de Capuchinos and is the first thing that catches your eye on entering. It's a figure carved in stone, the work of stonemason Juan Navarro, under the devotion of Cristo de los Desagravios y Misericordias.

A plaque states that anyone who devoutly recites a creed before the image is granted three hundred and sixty days of indulgence, dated 1794. At night, the name makes sense: the Cristo is lit by eight lanterns, which is why dusk is usually the best time to see it.

The Plaza de Capuchinos has carried that name since the early 17th century, when the original Franciscan friary was founded. It's a rectangular square, almost fully enclosed, where the white of limewash completely dominates its plain walls. That's its aesthetic: spacious, open, whitewashed and sober, which is why it contrasts with the narrow lanes that lead into it from both sides. Today it's understood as a place that invites reflection and silence.

It has two entrances, east and west, from the Cuesta del Bailío or from the Plaza de las Doblas. If you enter via the Cuesta del Bailío, your eye goes straight to the Cristo de los Faroles presiding over the square. If you come from the Plaza de las Doblas, the white façade of the church of the Convento de los Capuchinos dominates the view.

The Convento de los Capuchinos begins in 1629, when Fray Félix de Granada bought a house at the Puerta del Corbacho from the marqués de la Almunia to build the friary there. The works were finished by 1633, with the church to follow; indeed, on 6 January 1638 the first stone of the church of the Convento del Santo Ángel was laid. The church was designed with a single nave, a transept and a dome resting on pendentives. On the façade, where there were once three round arches, only the central one remains today, with a niche holding San Francisco, two narrow rectangular openings to the sides and a triangular pediment with a small oculus.

Around it, the ensemble is completed by the Iglesia de los Dolores and the hospital. The original Hospital de San Juan y San Jacinto was founded in 1596 by Fray Pedro del Castillo and remained at another site until 1717, when Padre Posadas moved it to this square, facing the friary. The square offers two entrances, to church and hospital: the church's doorway is lintelled, framed by a broken triangular pediment with a niche holding the Virgen de los Dolores; the hospital's doorway repeats the scheme, but with a curved pediment and the image of San Jacinto, and below it the coat of arms of Bishop Marcelino Siuri, sponsor of the works.

Inside, the Iglesia de los Dolores keeps to a single-nave scheme, with a barrel vault and a dome on pendentives over the transept. A neoclassical camarín stands out at the head of the church, holding the Virgen de los Dolores, known as the Señora de Córdoba, carved by Juan Prieto around 1719. And one of the altars on the Gospel side is presided over by the Cristo de la Clemencia, made by the Sevillian sculptor Amadeo Ruiz Olmos in 1939.

The Plaza del Cristo de los Faroles, or Plaza de Capuchinos, has no set hours: it's a public space with free access, and you can drop by whenever you like. There's no entry control or anything of the sort.

There are no tickets or prices either: it's completely free. The one thing to bear in mind is that the churches around it run on their own service hours, and that does depend on each church.

During Semana Santa (Holy Week), the Plaza de Capuchinos can be hard to get through on certain days, or even inaccessible, because the processions set out from the brotherhoods based in the churches around the square.

Something similar can happen during Cruces de Mayo (the May Crosses festival): if capacity is considered full, the authorities may apply restrictive measures on access to the square.

The square is accessible, although, like any proper square in Cordoba's historic centre, the paving is bolo cordobés, large rounded cobblestones that aren't much help for people with reduced mobility.

If you want more context, the best option is to book our night free tour of Cordoba with an official guide.