City of Cordoba, Argentina: description, history, sights

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Cordoba is a millionaire city, one of the oldest settlements in Argentina. It is the administrative center of the province of the same name. A favorable climate contributes to the development of agriculture, one of the main sources of income for the region. Mechanical engineering is well developed: cars, military equipment, components and assemblies for aviation and spacecraft are manufactured here.

Description

Cordoba in Argentina is the second most populated and the first largest city in the country - 576 km². For comparison, the capital of Buenos Aires within the official boundaries (excluding suburbs and satellite cities) covers an area of 202 km^{2. About 1.3 million people live in Cordoba, the size of the agglomeration is approaching two million. It is an important cultural, economic, educational, financial and entertainment center.}

Cordoba, despite its 400-year history, is a modern millionaire city. Has a layout in the form of a square (divided into quarters), each sidewhich is 24 km long. The landscape is dominated by high-rise buildings and green areas. The average height of buildings is 11-16 floors. In the Nueva Cordoba area, the 37-story skyscraper Radisson Capitalina rises. Meanwhile, large areas are occupied by slums. A serious problem is the underdevelopment of communication systems. Only half of the inhabitants have access to the benefits of civilization in the form of central sewerage and water supply.

Location

The city of Cordoba is located in the heart of the country, on the outskirts of the Pampas, a vast plain in South America. From the west, the spurs of the Sierra Pampas approach the residential areas. The metropolis is cut by the Sukiya River into two parts: a smaller southern and a larger northern one. They are connected by 30 bridges. The terrain is hilly, cut by ravines and sediments formed during floods.

The main avenues are Dean Funes and San Martin. They intersect in the center at right angles in the west/east and north/south directions, respectively. Smaller streets branch off from them. The layout is dominated by rectangular shapes.

Cordoba "communicates" with the rest of the cities through road, rail and air transport. Rosario 400 km by highway, Mendoza 600 km, Buenos Aires 700 km.

Early history

In the pre-Columbian era on the territory of Córdoba in Argentina lived the tribes of the Comechingon Indians. They differed from their neighbors in their habit of growing beards, lighter skin, tall stature and eye color: from brown to green. Their level of development was also much higher. They were engaged in organized cattle breeding and agriculture. These circumstances suggest that once the local tribes were in contact with the inhabitants of North-Western Europe.

After the conquest of America by the Spaniards, the life of the region changed dramatically. The Inca Empire fell. Viceroy of Peru Francisco de Toledo, appointed by the monarch of Spain, instructed a military detachment to establish a fortified settlement on the banks of the Sukia River. Soldiers under the command of the conquistador Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera built a small fort on July 6, 1573.

Locals did not accept strangers, resulting in skirmishes. Four years of continuous conflict forced the Spaniards to move the settlement to a more convenient place for defense. On it today stands Cordova. Argentina was gradually settled by white settlers. The largest diaspora in the city are migrants from Spain and Italy.

Follow-up development

Fertile lands and a warm climate contributed to population growth. By the end of the 16th century, it was already a large settlement. In 1599, the Jesuits arrived here, who 14 years later founded the National University - the oldest in Argentina. By 1760, the number of inhabitants exceeded 20 thousand.

The French Revolution led to the national upsurge of the inhabitants of the American colonies. The former provinces of Spain raised the struggle for independence from the mother country. The Rio de la Plata was no exception. However, the administration of Córdoba remained loyal to the crown, openly speaking out against the revolutionaries. However, the victory was for the supportersindependent politics. In 1816, Argentina was formed, and Cordoba became part of it.

Economy

The province of Cordoba is traditionally known as a major producer of cereals and vegetables, a center for meat and dairy farming. Significant volumes of products are exported abroad. 29% of the land is devoted to orchards, fruits and potatoes.

In the middle of the 20th century, the structure of the economy changed dramatically. Thanks to the activities of the oldest university in the country, the city has trained a professional staff of specialists in the field of mechanical engineering. This made it possible to establish the production of high-tech products, including the aerospace industry. A large automotive cluster has been formed in Cordoba: there are factories of Renault, Fiat, Iveco, Materfer, Volkswagen, which produce a quarter of the country's passenger cars.

Sights of Cordoba

Argentina can not be called a tourist country, but there is something to see here. The city is a fusion of modern architecture and historical buildings carefully preserved by the citizens. The city center is built up with skyscrapers, of which there are more than a hundred.

A number of buildings from the colonial era are of cultural and historical value, for example:

Manzana Jesuitica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Former headquarters of the National University. Now a museum and city library.
Church of the Society of Jesus.
Montserrat National School.
National Academy of Sciences.
School of Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera.
Museum of Religious Art of Juan de Tejeda.
Teatro del Libertador.

Cultural, entertainment and business heart is Nueva Cordoba. It is designed by José Ignacio Diaz in Cordobesa signature style. The architectural dominant are multi-storey buildings "a la 1970s", built of bricks of various reddish shades.