OPENING HOURS TO THE PUBLIC
WINTER
TUESDAYS TO FRIDAYS 08:30 - 20:45
SATURDAYS 08:30 - 16:30
SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS 08:30 - 14:30
SUMMER
TUESDAYS TO SATURDAYS 08:30 - 15:00
SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS 08:30 - 14:30
CLOSED MONDAYS
TUESDAYS TO FRIDAYS 08:30 - 20:45
SATURDAYS 08:30 - 16:30
SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS 08:30 - 14:30
SUMMER
TUESDAYS TO SATURDAYS 08:30 - 15:00
SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS 08:30 - 14:30
CLOSED MONDAYS
CORDOBA AND BULLFIGHTING
Bullfighting tradition and art go back centuries in Cordoba. No art has produced more art and been more prevalent in all artistic fields than bullfighting; in history, literature, novels, poetry, paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, posters, music, the press, the theatre, the cinema and even in grammar, since it is an art that possesses its own unique and peculiar language that has entered popular lexicon.
Bullfighting is an integral part of the history of this country and has had a strong influence on Portugal, the South of France and South America.
A city such as Cordoba, with an archaeological history of bullfighting, from Iberian and Roman times, with Spain’s biggest amphitheatre and Arabic and Christian testimonies after the Conquest.
With bullfighting treatise writers in the 17th century and great poets like Góngora who extolled the virtues of bullfighting. With bullfighting chroniclers and its impact on America. Major bullrings with renowned bullfighters, their prestigious assistants, mounted bullfighters and the 5 Caliphs. Excellent stockbreeding and secular fairs mean that this historic legacy, inherited from our ancestors and deeply entrenched in Cordoba's society, merits a Museum that is dedicated to their memory.
The entire city is imbued with the essence of bullfighting, like the bullfighting district of Santa Marina, next to the old abattoir, the Plaza de la Corredera, Plaza de la Magdalena and Campo de la Merced, places where bullfighting originally took place, and the current Coso de los Califas (Caliphs Bullring). The tributes to our most important bullfighters weave through the streets of our city, like the homage to “Manolete” in Plaza de los Condes de Priego and in Plaza de la Lagunilla, or the tribute to “Lagartijo” in Plaza Vaca de Alfaro.
Bullfighting has been part of the cultural life of the city, painters and poets have found inspiration in bullfighting, like Julio Romero de Torres.
The original idea to create a Municipal Museum arose more than a century ago, to bring together the fine collection of art objects belonging to Cordoba City Council in the same space. But it was not until 1952 that approval was given to the proposal of the Mayor, Antonio Cruz Conde y Conde, to buy a building to create the Local Museum. Here they gathered a collection of the artistic glories of yesteryear in the Jewish quarter, in numbers 1 and 10 of Calle Averroes, which had been provided by their owner Enrique Salinas Anchelerga.
In the Museum there would be a permanent place for “the different varieties and aspects of Cordoba craftsmanship, some with such prominence as silversmithing and embossing, which are of so much interest to the many tourists who regularly visit our city and there must also be a place in this Museum for Bullfighting Art associated with Cordoba...”.
The discovery that the new Municipal Museum of Popular Art would contain a section for Bullfighting Art associated with Cordoba sparked an extraordinary reaction among fans, bullfighting clubs and associations and the relatives of bullfighters that they began to make a series of deposits and donations as a way of doing their bit to help boost the museum's funds. The Museum was opened on the 28th of May, 1954.
This Museum was open for 26 years and closed in 1981 due to the poor condition of the building and its collections.
After its restoration, the deputy mayor, Francisco Martín López, proposed that it be reopened, but only as a Bullfighting Museum. It was opened by the mayor Julio Anguita, as the Municipal Bullfighting Museum, on the 4th of May 1983.
In the year 2005, due to the terrible condition of the building and the collections it contained, it was closed to the public and the municipal architects Rafael Pérez de Siles and Mª Dolores Alcaide started restoring the palatial homes, with the art collections being restored at the same time.
After 9 years of building work, the Bullfighting Museum opened its doors on the 30th of March 2014 with a completely restored building and an innovative museum programme adapted to 21st century technologies.
Bullfighting is an integral part of the history of this country and has had a strong influence on Portugal, the South of France and South America.
A city such as Cordoba, with an archaeological history of bullfighting, from Iberian and Roman times, with Spain’s biggest amphitheatre and Arabic and Christian testimonies after the Conquest.
With bullfighting treatise writers in the 17th century and great poets like Góngora who extolled the virtues of bullfighting. With bullfighting chroniclers and its impact on America. Major bullrings with renowned bullfighters, their prestigious assistants, mounted bullfighters and the 5 Caliphs. Excellent stockbreeding and secular fairs mean that this historic legacy, inherited from our ancestors and deeply entrenched in Cordoba's society, merits a Museum that is dedicated to their memory.
The entire city is imbued with the essence of bullfighting, like the bullfighting district of Santa Marina, next to the old abattoir, the Plaza de la Corredera, Plaza de la Magdalena and Campo de la Merced, places where bullfighting originally took place, and the current Coso de los Califas (Caliphs Bullring). The tributes to our most important bullfighters weave through the streets of our city, like the homage to “Manolete” in Plaza de los Condes de Priego and in Plaza de la Lagunilla, or the tribute to “Lagartijo” in Plaza Vaca de Alfaro.
Bullfighting has been part of the cultural life of the city, painters and poets have found inspiration in bullfighting, like Julio Romero de Torres.
The original idea to create a Municipal Museum arose more than a century ago, to bring together the fine collection of art objects belonging to Cordoba City Council in the same space. But it was not until 1952 that approval was given to the proposal of the Mayor, Antonio Cruz Conde y Conde, to buy a building to create the Local Museum. Here they gathered a collection of the artistic glories of yesteryear in the Jewish quarter, in numbers 1 and 10 of Calle Averroes, which had been provided by their owner Enrique Salinas Anchelerga.
In the Museum there would be a permanent place for “the different varieties and aspects of Cordoba craftsmanship, some with such prominence as silversmithing and embossing, which are of so much interest to the many tourists who regularly visit our city and there must also be a place in this Museum for Bullfighting Art associated with Cordoba...”.
The discovery that the new Municipal Museum of Popular Art would contain a section for Bullfighting Art associated with Cordoba sparked an extraordinary reaction among fans, bullfighting clubs and associations and the relatives of bullfighters that they began to make a series of deposits and donations as a way of doing their bit to help boost the museum's funds. The Museum was opened on the 28th of May, 1954.
This Museum was open for 26 years and closed in 1981 due to the poor condition of the building and its collections.
After its restoration, the deputy mayor, Francisco Martín López, proposed that it be reopened, but only as a Bullfighting Museum. It was opened by the mayor Julio Anguita, as the Municipal Bullfighting Museum, on the 4th of May 1983.
In the year 2005, due to the terrible condition of the building and the collections it contained, it was closed to the public and the municipal architects Rafael Pérez de Siles and Mª Dolores Alcaide started restoring the palatial homes, with the art collections being restored at the same time.
After 9 years of building work, the Bullfighting Museum opened its doors on the 30th of March 2014 with a completely restored building and an innovative museum programme adapted to 21st century technologies.
