Córdoba

Overview

Ask any Argentinian about their favorite part of the country and many will respond: the province of Cordoba. This region, in the centre of the country and about 800 km from the capital Buenos Aires, is known to be a hot spot for those who want to enjoy pure, rough nature. Mountains, rivers, lakes, forest, you can find everything in Cordoba. Surrounded by nature you will also find famous villages like for example Villa Carlos Paz, Mina Clavero, Villa General Belgrano and San Marcos Sierra. Besides, the capital of the province, also named Cordoba, is an interesting town full of movement. The city is called La Docta because of the many universities and scientific institutes. Around 200.000 people study here, which make the city one of those with the youngest and liveliest appearance in South America. There is much cultural and night life, above all in the Güemes and Alta Córdoba areas and in the red light district, the Ex Abasto, called so because until 1990 there had been a huge market area (Mercado de Abasto, now in the city outskirts). The colonial architecture of the city center is now cohabiting with many modern buildings. Although the oldest buildings are found in the surroundings of the Plaza San Martín (microcentro), the most pleasant areas are now the Nueva Córdoba district south of the centre and the area around the Cañada, a small river which crosses the city. These...more

History

The city was founded in 1573 and for a long time it was the largest and most important town in the region that today is Argentina, until 1776 when Buenos Aires was declared capital of the Virreinato del Río de la Plata. Its university was founded as early as 1613 by the Jesuits. The catholic church had much influence on social life until 1900, and Córdoba sometimes was called "Argentinas's Rome". In 1918 a student revolution, the Reforma Universitaria, led to a modernization of the university, which until this time had been very conservative and was full of corruption. This revolution spread to all cities of Argentina and most of Latin America. In the 1950s the city was industrialized by Perón and Frondizi governments. Today, Córdoba is Argentina's second technology hub beyond Buenos Aires, leading above-all in motor industry and in high-tech sectors like software and electronics.