Cardenal Salazar Square

The whitewash that coats the streets of the La Judería neighborhood takes a break in this small and baroque Plaza del Cardenal Salazar. Groups of tourists and students share this historic spot, flanked by the former Hospital del Cardenal Salazar, now the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, and the Conventual Church of San Pedro de Alcántara.

Convent and Church of San Pedro de Alcántara

The Convent of San Pedro de Alcántara was built thanks to the generosity of Don Francisco Antonio de Bañuelos, then Schoolmaster of the Cathedral’s chapter, who gave the Alcantarine friars plots of land he owned. The new chapel was inaugurated on July 6, 1682, but seeing that the space was insufficient, they requested the City Council to grant them the land of the small square for the construction of a new church. The plans for it were commissioned to architect Luis de Rojas, master builder of the city, and executed by Baltasar de los Reyes. In 1696, the convent was inaugurated by Cardinal Salazar himself.

Plaza del Cardenal Salazar

The Plaza del Cardenal Salazar is a tourist spot where students from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters coexist with tourists who visit us daily.

The church is a representative work of the Cordoban plaque baroque, a style that developed in our city during the first half of the 18th century, characterized by the use of geometric decorative elements, especially on exteriors. The main façade features a two-level design topped by a large triangular pediment and is vertically structured into three sections. In the central section, a semi-circular arched entrance stands out, and above it is the image of the church’s patron saint in a niche, crowned by a curved pediment. Except for these two elements, everything is decorated with geometric elements in the form of horizontal and vertical plaques.

Inside, the church has a Latin cross floor plan. Its central nave is divided into four bays and covered by a barrel vault with lunettes. The crossing is topped by a large dome decorated with 18th-century mural paintings depicting vegetal motifs and angels holding palms in the pendentives. The rectangular apse is presided over by an exceptional altarpiece made of red and black marble and plaster, the work of Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo.

Hospital del Cardenal Salazar

One of the most interesting examples of 18th-century Cordoban civil architecture is undoubtedly the Hospital del Cardenal Salazar. Interestingly, this hospital was originally intended to house a school for acolytes and choirboys of the Cathedral. With this goal in mind, Cardinal Salazar purchased land in 1704 from Don Antonio del Corral, located across from the newly inaugurated Conventual Church of San Pedro de Alcántara.

The chosen architect was Hurtado Izquierdo, who was then serving as the Cathedral’s Chief Architect. Construction progressed quickly until 1704, when a terrible plague epidemic struck the city. Coupled with the lack of sufficient medical resources, this forced a reconsideration of the building’s purpose while it was still under construction. It was then that the cardinal decided to repurpose the building as a hospital—hence the reason why it does not conform to the traditional model of hospital constructions.

Cardinal Salazar died in 1706, leaving the project in the hands of his nephew, then Dean of the Cathedral, Don Pedro de Salazar y Góngora, who would later become Bishop of Córdoba around 1738. The hospital was inaugurated on November 11, 1724.

The main façade is structured into two levels. The lower level is decorated with lintelled windows topped by triangular pediments, both flanked by double pilasters resting on a plinth that spans the façade. The upper level rises above a small cornice and repeats the same scheme, except the triangular pediment is replaced with a curved one. A broken cornice crowns the whole, adorned with several mascarons as decorative elements.

The main entrance stands out from the rest of the façade. Made of marble, it is divided into two clearly distinct levels. In the lower level, on large pedestals (a common feature in Hurtado Izquierdo’s work), two Doric columns flank a lintelled entrance and support a fine entablature featuring triglyphs and plain metopes. The upper level consists of a balcony, from which a broken curved pediment and two pilasters topped with spheres rise. From the latter emerges a circular pediment housing the coat of arms of Cardinal Salazar.

The building’s interior is organized around two courtyards and a staircase, from which the remaining rooms extend. The marble staircase consists of two sections separated by a landing, where the Portrait of the Cardinal, a work by painter Ignacio de Cobos Guzmán, is displayed.

The main courtyard follows a layout similar to the façade, with lintelled openings flanked by double pilasters and alternating triangular and curved pediments across two levels. The other courtyard, smaller in size, features a porticoed lower level with Doric columns and semicircular arches, while the upper level, pierced by lintelled openings, shows little decoration.

If you would like to visit the Plaza del Cardenal Salazar, do not hesitate to book one of our guided tours. We are experts in interpreting Córdoba’s historic heritage. If you’ve chosen to enjoy tourism in Córdoba, choose a quality option—choose ArtenCórdoba.

Text: J.A.S.C.