Casa Árabe will be celebrating the legacy of Averroes in 2026 along with five other institutions in Cordoba 

Casa Árabe, the University of Cordoba, the City Council, the Provincial Council, the Autonomous Regional Government of Andalusia and the Abdulaziz Saud Al Babtain Chair are promoting the celebration of “The Year of Averroes” with the signing of a memorandum of collaboration. The activities will be taking place throughout 2026 AT different venues throughout the city, including Casa Árabe. 

In addition to the director general of Casa Árabe, the signing of the memorandum of collaboration, held in Cordoba on Friday, December 12, was attended by Miguel Moro Aguilar; Rector of the University of Cordoba (UCO), Manuel Torralbo Rodríguez; the Mayor of Cordoba, José María Bellido Roche; President of the Provincial Government Office, Salvador Fuentes Lopera; Assistant Delegate to the Government in Cordoba, Adolfo Molina Rascón; Vice-Rector for Students and Culture at the UCO, Israel Muñoz Gallarte, Director of the Al-Babtain Chair and a professor at the UCO, Dr. Juan Pedro Monferrer 

This ”Year of Averroes” is a program of activities organized to mark the ninth centennial of the Cordoba-born thinker (1126-2026). It is structured into five large themed areas that combine research and public information. 

The first of them is an exhibition, the name of which is ”The Averroes Universe: Daily life in twelfth-century Córdoba,” which will be displayed at the Provincial Government Office in Cordoba. The exhibition will feature 45 works on loan from the Cordoba Archeology Museum, as well as copies of manuscripts of Averroes’ work, mainly from the royal collection kept at the El Escorial Library. Furthermore, the most comprehensive copy of an original medical treatise preserved in the Municipal Archive of Córdoba will be on display.

The more research-oriented and academic aspect of the events will revolve around the international conference titled “The Averroes Universe – Ibn Rushd, the intellectual and his time,” taking place at Casa Árabe from April 27 to 29. This event will bring together the world’s 20 leading experts on this historical figure and the philosophies of Averroes, from universities in the United States, France, Germany, Mexico and Brazil, as well as researchers from the Arab world, and two Spanish specialists on his legal work and political writings, Maribel Fierro and Delfina Serrano, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The conference will give proper consideration to Averroes’ thinking on subjects such as medicine, philosophy, theology and law, in addition to other subjects.

The third major portion of the Year of Averroes program will be the public information conference series taking place at the Rector’s Office, Casa Árabe and the National Archeology Museum. The first eight lectures form part of the public information congress titled “The Journey of Knowledge: Averroes, a turning point in the intellectual history of humanity,” to be held at the University of Cordoba on a date yet to be confirmed. Added to this will be the holding of a seminar at Casa Árabe from May 19 to 22 by the “International Working Group (AAIWG): Ibn Rushd, Averroes and Latin Averroism: The Aquinas and “the Arabs.” This series of events will conclude with a set of public information conferences given at the library of the Cordoba Archaeology Museum.

Complementary cultural activities make up the fourth set of events in of the program. Music will play a leading role in several of them. More specifically, taking place in the Orive Hall throughout the second half of February will be a concert series titled “From Harmony to Reason: Echoes of Averroes in Cordoba. A musical journey through twelfth-century Al-Andalus and the dialogue between cultures.” The city’s facilities will also be hosting the premiere of a work on Averroes commissioned from composer Santiago Báez. Orive will also be the stage for the conference series ”The Word Alit.” Alongside this, another two exhibitions intended for the general public will be on display at the Casa Árabe headquarters and the Rector’s Office from February to December 2026, one on Averroes as a thinker and philosopher, and the other on Averroes as a scientific figure. The Archaeological Museum will not only be providing the pieces that form part of the main exhibition at the Provincial Representative’s Office, but will also be contributing to the Year of Averroes with an exhibition held in the Museum’s temporary spaces.

Last of all, in late 2026 a documentary will be premiered about the Cordoba-born thinker. Directed by Ana Villa and Guillermo Parrilla, graduates of the UCO and authors of works such as “Que arda la calle” (“Let the Streets Burn”) and “La espantada” (“The Scare”).

Further information coming soon on this website.