Casa Árabe’s Córdoba Headquarters Designated a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC)

The architectural complex of the Casa Mudéjar, Casa Árabe’s headquarters in the city, has been granted the highest level of protection by the Spanish Historical Heritage Authority. The Madrid headquarters, the Escuelas Aguirre, received the same designation in February 2025. 

At its meeting on September 15, the Council of Ministers approved, at the proposal of Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun, the designation of the Mudéjar House in Córdoba—the headquarters of Casa Árabe in the city—as a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the Monument category.

This designation comes after the Ministry of Culture began the process for this designation last May, which entails the application of the highest level of protection established by Law 16/1985, of June 25, on Spanish Historical Heritage.

The Casa Mudéjar
Located in the heart of Córdoba’s historic district (9 Samuel de los Santos Gener St.), the Casa Mudéjar is a building of extraordinary historical and architectural value. The building, created by joining five narrow houses, features a complex, labyrinthine floor plan organized around four courtyards and a tower, following the construction models characteristic of Mudéjar architecture. Its location in the Santa María neighborhood, near the Mosque-Cathedral, reflects the historical allocation of plots reserved for families of particular social and political significance due to their service to the crown.

From an architectural and artistic standpoint, the building preserves notable elements of Mudejar and Al-Andalus art, such as polylobed semicircular arches made of flat-laid brick, capitals in the Caliphate tradition, polychrome wooden coffered ceilings, and rich stucco decoration featuring arabesque and interlaced motifs, as well as inscriptions in Arabic calligraphy. Its layout, centered around courtyards of varying hierarchy, reflects the social organization of the residence and serves as an example of the survival of Islamic architectural traditions within the Christian context of the Late Middle Ages.

15th-Century Figurative Murals
One of the building’s most outstanding features is the collection of 15th-century figurative murals attributed to the painters Pedro Romana and Pedro Fernández and preserved in the Hall of Ambassadors, one of the few surviving examples in the city of Córdoba. These paintings, which depict allegories of the theological and cardinal virtues combined with heraldic motifs, were discovered in 1928 by archaeologist Samuel de los Santos Gener, then director of the Archaeological Museum of Córdoba, while the house was being renovated to house that institution (between 1921 and 1961).

Today
Throughout the 20th century and into the early 21st century, the Mudéjar House has undergone several conservation and restoration projects, most notably the comprehensive renovation to adapt it as the headquarters of Casa Árabe, led by the Córdoba City Council and completed in 2011, which was awarded the “World Heritage Cities” prize by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. This project enabled the restoration and adaptation of the building for cultural use, ensuring the preservation of its heritage values.

In 2021, Casa Árabe celebrated its tenth anniversary at the Casa Mudéjar with a special program of activities that included, among others, an exhibition, a concert, and lectures, as well as guided and dramatized tours.