Plaza del Potro
Just a few minutes away from the Mezquita, to the east along calle Luis de la Cerda/Lineros, is the Plaza del Potro (Square of the Colt), a long, rectangular square which slopes down towards the nearby Guadalquivir river to the south. It is named after the 16th-century fountain in the plaza (1577), an octagonal structure which features a small, prancing horse balanced atop a vase; the square used to host a livestock market dealing in equestrian.
The medieval Posada del Potro, on the south side of the square, was a known haunt of adventurers and a favourite of Cervantes – he mentions it in Don Quixote. The writer lived in Cordoba as a child – his family moved there in 1553 from Valladolid, and stayed until 1557, living in a street called calle Sillerias, now called Romero Barros. He probably also stayed at the Posada.
The inn, a typical corrala – two floors built around a narrow cobbled courtyard, the upper floor with a gallery and wooden pillars and balconies - has now been turned into a centre for the study of flamenco, the Centro Flamenco Fosforito, named after the famous singer Antonio Fernandez Diaz Fosforito. It stages exhibitions and seminars, as well as being used for other events.
On the side of the plaza facing the inn, you’ll find a converted 15th-century Franciscan charity hospital. This now contains two museums: the Museo Bellas Artes, and the Museo Julio Romero de Torres, the former home of the much-loved Cordoban painter.
