Bullfighting Museum of Córdoba

About Bullfighting Museum of Córdoba

The Bullfighting Museum of Córdoba, the Museo Taurino, occupies the Casa de las Bulas, a 16th-century Mudéjar mansion on Plaza de Maimónides in the Judería, the old Jewish quarter. Opened as a municipal crafts museum in 1954, it has been devoted solely to bullfighting since 1983 and reopened in 2014 after a long restoration.

Córdoba claims five great matadors, the 'Cinco Califas': Lagartijo, Guerrita, Machaquito, Manolete and El Cordobés. One room is given over to them, with their suits of lights, capes and portraits, alongside a bronze bust of Lagartijo by Mateo Inurria. Manolete draws the most attention: on show are the cape, muleta and sword he used in Linares in 1947 against Islero, the bull that killed him, the head of Islero itself and a replica of the matador's mausoleum.

The other rooms, over two floors, cover the bull and its landscape, the ritual of the corrida and the art it has inspired, through posters, photographs, recordings and sculpture. Allow about an hour.

The museum is closed on Mondays, and from mid-June to mid-September it opens in the mornings only. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for the Judería; arrive at opening time, before groups fill the narrow streets. Check current hours before going.

Bullfighting Museum of Córdoba in pictures

What you’ll find

• Museum exhibitionExhibition visitTicket
• Museum galleriesMuseum visitTicket

Nearby places to visit

Right next door, the Al-Iksir Alchemy Museum (100 m) is devoted to the history of alchemy and makes an easy second stop. The Córdoba Archaeological Museum (500 m) occupies the Renaissance Palacio de los Páez de Castillejo, with the remains of the city's Roman theatre visible in its basement. A little further east, the Museum of Fine Arts of Córdoba (700 m) is on the Plaza del Potro, in the former Hospital de la Caridad. For a round of golf away from the old town, Arruzafa Golf (3 km) is a nine-hole pitch and putt beside the Parador. All three museums are within a 15-minute walk of each other through the old town.