cordoba

/kawr"deuh beuh, -veuh/; Sp. /kawrdd"dhaw vah/, n., pl. cordobas /-beuhz, -veuhz/; Sp. /-vahs/

a silver coin and monetary unit of Nicaragua, equal to 100 centavos.

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I

City (pop., 1999 est.: 1,275,585), the second largest in Argentina.

It lies on the Primero River along the foothills of the Sierra de Córdoba. Founded in 1573, its location between the coast and the interior settlements favoured its early development. In 1599 Jesuits settled in the city and founded the country's first university (1613). Córdoba's growth was stimulated by the completion of rail connections with the east in 1869 and the San Roque Dam in 1866, which provides irrigation water for orchards and grain fields and hydroelectric power for the city's many factories.

II

or Cordova ancient Corduba

City (pop., 2001: 308,072), capital of Córdoba province, southern Spain.

On the banks of the Guadalquivir River, it probably had Carthaginian origins. Occupied by the Romans in 152 BC, it became, under Augustus, the capital of the Roman province of Baetica. It declined under the Visigoths (6th–8th centuries AD), and it was captured by the Muslims in 711. Abd al-Rahman I, of the Umayyad family, made it his capital in 756 and founded the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which still stands. By the 10th century it was the largest city in Europe, filled with palaces and mosques. It fell to the Castilian king Ferdinand III in 1236 and became part of Christian Spain. Modern Córdoba's streets and buildings evoke its Moorish heritage.

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▪ Argentina

 city, among the largest in Argentina, and capital of Córdoba provincia (province). It lies on the Primero River along the northwest perimeter of the Pampas, where the foothills of the Córdoba Mountains meet the plains, 1,440 feet (472 metres) above sea level.

      The city was founded in June 1573 by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, then governor of Tucumán, who named it Córdoba de la Nueva Andalucía (Córdoba of the New Andalusia), for the city and region of that name in Spain. The location of Córdoba, between the coast and the interior settlements, played an important role in its early development. The city, as part of the viceroyalty of Peru, began to prosper and by the end of the 17th century had become the wealthiest city in Tucumán. In 1599 Jesuits settled in the city to teach and work with Indians, and in 1613 they founded the first university in the country, the University of Córdoba (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; UNC). Córdoba's economy began to suffer with the creation in 1776 of the viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (embracing the area of modern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and southern Bolivia), with its capital at Buenos Aires, and Córdoba subsequently opposed the imposition of a strong central government based in Buenos Aires. This opposition persisted until the 1860s, causing numerous incidents of violence.

      Córdoba's commercial growth and industry were stimulated by the completion of rail connections with the east (1869) and the building on the Primero River in 1866 of San Roque Dam, one of South America's earliest large dams. The lake impounded by the dam, which has since been improved, supplies Córdoba with water, irrigates orchards and grain fields, and is the source of hydroelectric power for the city's leather, textile, automotive, glass, and food-processing factories.

      The city's religious conservatism and loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church caused Córdoba to remain a centre of conservative ideas during the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1880s the city strongly opposed the institution of laws that would secularize education. During the 20th century the city was also a centre of labour activism; after 1912 Córdoba came under the influence of the Radicals, reflecting the size of Argentina's growing industrial work force. In 1955 Gen. Eduardo Lonardi's capture of Córdoba initiated the downfall of Pres. Juan Perón. In 1969 demonstrations by students and organized labour destabilized the military dictatorship of Gen. Juan Carlos Onganía. These student and labour conflicts became known as the Cordobazo.

      Córdoba's rich colonial inheritance is displayed by the old cabildo (town council chamber), the viceroy's palace (18th century), the cathedral (1758), the University of Córdoba, and the church and convent of Santa Teresa (begun 1714). The Plaza San Martín commemorates the liberator of Argentina. Owing to its history and to summer resorts in the nearby sierras (mountains), Córdoba has developed a thriving tourist trade. It is the railway and highway hub of central Argentina, linking the Pampas with important centres of the northwest. Pajas Blancas is a modern airport close to the city. Pop. (2001) 1,267,521.

▪ Mexico

      city, west-central Veracruz estado (state), east-central Mexico. It lies at 3,031 feet (924 metres) above sea level along the San Antonio River, within sight of the dormant Volcano Pico de Orizaba (Pico de Orizaba, Volcano). The settlement was founded in 1618 as Villa de Córdoba and was host to the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba on Aug. 24, 1821, which gave Mexico its independence from Spain. The city is set in a tropical landscape and retains a colonial atmosphere. It is a processing centre for coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, and bananas and other fruits raised in the area. It is also a highway and railroad junction. In August 1973 an earthquake, centred near Córdoba, caused widespread destruction in the city and throughout central Mexico. Pop. (2005) 136,237.

▪ Spain

conventional  Cordova 

 city, capital of Córdoba provincia (province), in the north-central section of the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Andalusia in southern Spain. It lies at the southern foot of the Morena Mountains and on the right (north) bank of the Guadalquivir River, about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Sevilla.

      Córdoba was probably Carthaginian (Carthage) in origin and was occupied by the Romans in 152 BC. The city flourished under their rule, though 20,000 of its inhabitants were massacred in 45 BC by Julius Caesar for having supported the sons of Pompey. Under Augustus, the city became the capital of the prosperous Roman province of Baetica. It declined under the rule of the Visigoths from the 6th to the early 8th century AD.

      In 711 Córdoba was captured and largely destroyed by the Muslims. Its recovery was impeded by tribal rivalries until Abd al-Raḥmān Iʿ, a member of the Umayyad (Umayyad Dynasty) family, accepted the leadership of the Spanish Muslims and made Córdoba his capital in 756. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān I founded the Great Mosque of Córdoba (Córdoba, Mosque-Cathedral of), which was enlarged by his successors and completed about 976 by Abū ʿĀmir al-Manṣūr (Manṣūr, Abū ʿĀmir al-). Though troubled by occasional revolt, Córdoba grew rapidly under Umayyad rule; and after ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III proclaimed himself caliph of the West in 929, it became the largest and probably the most cultured city in Europe, with a population of some 100,000 in 1000. Under Umayyad rule, Córdoba was enlarged and filled with palaces and mosques. The city's woven silks and elaborate brocades, leatherwork, and jewelry were prized throughout Europe and the East, and its copyists rivaled Christian monks in the production of religious works. When the caliphate was dismembered by civil war early in the 11th century, Córdoba became the centre of a contest for power among the petty Muslim kingdoms of Spain. It fell to the Castilian king Ferdinand III in 1236 and became part of Christian Spain.

 Córdoba remained a Christian military base in the frontier warfare against the Muslim kingdom of Granada. But the substitution of Spanish for Muslim rule hastened the city's economic and cultural decline, and the fall of Granada in 1492 left Córdoba a quiet city of churches, monasteries, and aristocratic houses. The exotic poetry of Luis de Góngora y Argote (Góngora y Argote, Luis de) briefly revived Córdoba's cultural prestige in the 17th century. Besides Góngora, the city is noted as the birthplace of the Roman philosopher Seneca, the poet Lucan, and the medieval philosophers Averroës and Maimonides.

      The city was stormed and sacked by the French in 1808 for its part in fomenting the rebellion against Napoleonic French rule. It was one of the first cities occupied by Francoist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39).

 Córdoba remains a typically Moorish city with narrow, winding streets, especially in the older quarter of the centre and, farther west, the Judería (Jewish quarter). A Moorish bridge with 16 arches on Roman bases connects Córdoba with its suburbs across the river. The bridge is guarded at its southern end by the Calahorra fortress. West of the bridge, near the river, lies the Alcázar, or palace, which was the residence of the caliphs and is now in ruins. Other important buildings include several old monasteries and churches, the city hall, various schools and colleges, and museums of fine arts and archaeology. Córdoba's Moorish character and its fine buildings—especially the Great Mosque (Córdoba, Mosque-Cathedral of)—have made it a popular tourist attraction.

      The city is also noted for its textile manufactures, traditional medieval handicrafts, and its manufacture of gold and silver ornaments and products in copper, bronze, and aluminum. Córdoba's other significant industries are brewing, distilling, and food processing (especially olives), as well as the manufacture of machinery parts and metalworking. Pop. (2006 est.) 297,506.

▪ province, Argentina

      provincia (province), central Argentina. From the Grande Mountains in the west, which rise to 9,462 feet (2,884 metres), the land slopes eastward to the great Pampa grasslands, being drained by the Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, and Quinto rivers. Only the Tercero reaches the Paraná River; the others terminate in swamps or in the saline Mar Chiquita Lagoon in the northeast.

      Spanish settlements were first established in the area in the 16th century, when trade was carried on with Bolivia and Chile. Although Córdoba was a stubborn region of Spanish resistance to the Latin American war of independence, it joined (1816) the Argentine Confederation, which it later (1852–62) strongly supported against the political dominance of Buenos Aires. Completion of the railway from Rosario in 1869 was the first important transportation link with the east, but Córdoba has retained its provincial loyalties.

      Cattle raising, carried over from colonial times, is of great economic importance, as are the cultivation of wheat, corn (maize), and soybeans. Granite and limestone are quarried, and there is mining (tungsten, mica, and beryllium) in the sierras (mountains). The province's chief industrial centres, which process foods and manufacture textiles, are Córdoba (the provincial capital), Río Cuarto, and Villa María. Important tourist resorts in the sierras include Cosquín (site of an annual folklore festival), Villa Carlos Paz, and La Falda. The province has an excellent communications network of roads, railways, and airlines. Area 63,831 square miles (165,321 square km). Pop. (2001) 3,066,801.

▪ province, Spain

conventional  Cordova 

      provincia (province) in the northern section of the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Andalusia, south-central Spain. Its area is divided by the Guadalquivir River into a mountainous north, crossed by the Morena Mountains, and a fertile, undulating southern plain, known as La Campiña. Agriculture (cereals, olives, and grapes) and sheep, horse, and bull breeding predominate in the south. Mining (in the north) of lead, zinc, and coal is one of the province's chief industries. Furniture making and the production of metals and chemicals are also significant. The historic provincial capital, Córdoba, is an administrative centre and popular tourist destination. Other important towns are Lucena, Puente-Genil, Montilla, Priego de Córdoba, Cabra, and Baena. Area 5,317 square miles (13,771 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 792,182.

Vicente Rodriguez

 

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