We head for the Exit Stairway, just about to leave Viana Palace. In order to do that, we need to go through a small corridor, which, curiously enough, is decorated with Plateresque choir stalls from the 16th century, and a friar chest with simple marquetry. On its walls there are three works by Cavalier D’Arpino: “Moses making water come from Horeb rock” and “The Rape of the Sabine Women“.

Once we have passed this corridor, we go down a stairway leading us to the Courtyard of the Gate, in order to finally leave the building. Curiously, the stairway is covered by an exceptional vault which was not always there, as it was brought in 1918 after it was known that Tejeiro Palace in Cabra was being demolished, and this vault was at risk of disappearing.

The vault was disassembled with a chisel and taken to Viana Palace, and since then it is seen by its visitors. There has been speculation about its author, but the truth is that we still do not know for certain the responsible for the work, although it is thought it could have been designed by Francisco Javier Pedrajas, according to its stylistic features and the area of influence (Cabra and Priego de Córdoba) and, most certainly, was made around the last years of the 18th century.

As for its structure, it is a lobed vault over pendentives, decorated with vegetable elements and pebbles, and with the blazons of the four surnames of the family: Fernández, Valenzuela, Andrade and Jurado.

On the highest point of the ceiling there is the typical fleuron, from which the octagonal lamp hangs lighting the room, and from which the twelve ribs separating the vaults in six parts start. The spaces located over the pendentives have scallop shells with eagles on top; in the rest, the scheme is repeated but without the eagles and less vegetation.

If you wish to know the Exit Stairway of Viana Palace, do not hesitate to hire one of our guided tours. We are experts in the interpretation of the historical heritage from Córdoba. If you have chosen to do sightseeing in Córdoba, choose a high quality option, choose ArtenCórdoba.

Text: J.A.S.C.