Before the building was a cathedral, this was where you washed and waited. The orange trees are planted on the same grid as the columns inside, so the courtyard reads as the hall continued into the open air — the effect is deliberate and it still works.
⭐ It costs nothing to walk in, which makes it the best free thing in the old city. Early morning it is nearly empty and the light comes in low under the arcade.
The bell tower on the north side is built around the earlier minaret rather than replacing it — another instance of the city's habit of keeping what was already there and building over it.
Our tip
Come in from the Puerta del Perdón and stand still for a minute before walking on. Most people cross it without looking up.
Patio de los Naranjos, photographed
