Córdoba, Argentina

In 1570, Viceroy Francisco de Toledo entrusted the Spanish settler Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, with the task of populating and founding a settlement in the Punilla Valley. Cabrera sent an expedition of 48 men to the territory of the Comechingones. He divided the principal column that entered through the north of the provincial territory at Villa María. The one hundred man expedition set foot on what today is Córdoba on 24 June 1573. Cabrera called the nearby river San Juan (today Suquía). The settlement was officially founded on 6 July of the same year and named Córdoba de la Nueva Andalucía, possibly in honour of ancestors of the founder's wife, originally from Córdoba, Spain. The foundation of the city took place on the left bank of the river on Francisco de Torres' advice.

Depiction of the first map of Córdoba (1577)

The settlement was inhabited by aboriginal people called Comechingones, who lived in communities called Ayllus. After four years, having repelled attacks by the aborigines, the settlement's authorities moved it to the opposite bank of the Suquía River in 1577. The Lieutenant Governor at the time, Don Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, planned the first layout of the city as a grid of 70 blocks. Once the city core had been moved to its current location, it acquired a stable population. Its economy blossomed due to trade with the cities in the north.

In 1599, the religious order of the Jesuits arrived in the settlement. They established a Novitiate in 1608 and, in 1610, the Colegio Maximo, which became the University of Córdoba in 1613 (today National University of Córdoba), the fourth-oldest in the Americas. The local Jesuit Church remains one of the oldest buildings in South America and contains the Monserrat Secondary School, a church, and residential buildings. To maintain such a project, the Jesuits operated five Reducciones in the surrounding fertile valleys, including Caroya, Jesús María, Santa Catalina, Alta Gracia and Candelaria.

The farm and the complex, started in 1615, had to be vacated by the Jesuits following the 1767 decree by King Charles III of Spain that expelled them from the continent. They were then run by the Franciscans until 1853, when the Jesuits returned to the Americas. Nevertheless, the university and the high-school were nationalized a year later. Each Estancia has its own church and set of buildings, around which towns grew, such as Alta Gracia, the closest to the Block.

Rafael de Sobremonte, governor of Córdoba from 1784 to 1799

In 1776, King Carlos III created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, in which Córdoba stays in 1785 as the Government Intendency of Córdoba, including the current territories of the provinces of Córdoba, La Rioja and the region of Cuyo.

According to the 1760 census, the population of the city was 22,000 inhabitants. During the May Revolution in 1810, the widespread opinion of the most notable citizens was of continuing respecting the orders of Fernando VII, attitude assumed by the local authorities, which led to the Liniers Counter-revolution. This position was not shared by the Dean Gregorio Funes, who was adhering to the revolutionary ideas, beside supporting contact with Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli.

In March 1816, the Argentine Congress met in Tucumán for an independence resolution. Córdoba sent Eduardo Pérez Bulnes, Jerónimo Salguero de Cabrera, José Antonio Cabrera, and to the Canon of the cathedral Michael Calixto of the Circle, all of them of autonomous position.

The 1820s belonged to caudillos, since the country was in full process of formation. Until 1820 a central government taken root in Buenos Aires existed, but the remaining thirteen provinces felt that after 9 July 1816 what had happened it was simply a change of commander. The Battle of Cepeda pitted the commanders of the Littoral against the inland forces.

Finally, the Federales obtained the victory, for what the country remained since then integrated by 13 autonomous provinces, on the national government having been dissolved. From this way the period known like about the Provincial Autonomies began. From this moment the provinces tried to create a federal system that was integrating them without coming to good port, this mainly for the regional differences of every province.

Two Córdoba figures stood out in this period: Governor Juan Bautista Bustos, who was an official of the Army of the North and in 1820 was supervised by the troops quartered in Arequito, a town near Córdoba, and his ally and later enemy, General José María Paz. In 1821, Bustos repelled the invasion of Córdoba on the part of Francisco Ramírez and his Chilean ally, General José Miguel Carrera. The conflict originated in a dispute with the power system that included the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santa Fe; according to the 1822 census the total population of Córdoba was of 11,552 inhabitants.

Colón Avenue, c. 1900.

Olmos Avenue (1943).

Topographical relief map of the city of Córdoba

At the end of the 19th century the process of national industrialization began with the height of the economic agro-exporting model, principally of meats and cereals. This process is associated with the European immigration who began to settle the city, generally possessing the education and enterprising capacity appropriate for the development of industry. The majority of these European immigrants came from Italy (initially from Piedmont, Veneto and Lombardy; later from Campania and Calabria), and Spain (mostly Galicians and Basques)

At the beginning of the 20th century the city had 90,000 inhabitants. The city's physiognomy changed considerably following the construction of new avenues, walks and public squares, as well as the installation of an electrified tram system, in 1909. In 1918, Córdoba was the epicentre of a movement known as the University Reform, which then spread to the rest of the Universities of the country, Americas and Spain.

The development of the domestic market, the British investments that facilitated European settlement, the development of the railways on the pampas rapidly industrialized the city. Córdoba's industrial sector first developed from the need to transform raw materials such as leather, meats and wool for export.[4]

In 1927, the Military Aircraft Manufacturer (FMA) was inaugurated. The facility would become one of the most important in the world after World War II with the arrival of German technical personnel. From 1952, its production began to diversify, to constitute the base of the former Institute Aerotécnico, the state-owned company Aeronautical and Mechanical Industries of the State (IAME). Córdoba was chosen as the site of The Instituto Aerotécnico that later became the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. It employed the Focke Wulf men until President Juan Perón was ousted by a coup in 1955. Lockheed Martin purchased FMA in 1995.

Córdoba, according to the census of 1947, had almost 400,000 inhabitants (a quarter of the province's total). Subsequent industrial development led thousands of rural families to the city, doubling its population and turning Córdoba into the second largest city in Argentina, after Buenos Aires, by 1970. The city's population and economic growth moderated, afterwards, though living standards rose with the increase in the national consumption of Córdoba's industrial products, as well as the development of other sectors of economic activity.

At times rivaling Buenos Aires for its importance in national politics, Córdoba was the site of the initial mutiny leading to the 1955 Revolución Libertadora that deposed President Juan Perón and the setting for the 1969 Cordobazo, a series of violent labor and student protests that ultimately led to elections in 1973. Córdoba's current economic diversity is due to a vigorous services sector and the demand for agro-industrial and railway equipment and, in particular, the introduction of U.S. and European automakers after 1954.

The city is located in the plain of the Humid Pampa, to the east of the oriental cord of Córdoba Hills or Sierras Chicas, also known as the Sierras Cordobesas, which has an average height of 550 m.[5] It spreads at the foot of the mount, on both banks of the River Suquía, and flows into the San Roque reservoir; from there, the Primero River goes east into the plains surrounding the city of Córdoba.

Once inside the city, the La Cañada stream meets the Rio Primero near the city centre area. Two kilometers to the east, Isla de los Patos (Ducks Island) was repopulated with ducks and swans in the 1980s. It was reported in March 2006 that a large number of ducks had died due to unspecified causes.[6] Pollution caused by chemical waste is suspected as the cause, but avian influenza is also being investigated.

Beyond the city limits, the river flows towards the Algarrobos swamp and ends its course on the southern coast of the Mar Chiquita (or Mar de Ansenuza) salt lake. All in all, the river has a length of approximately 200 km (124 mi) and carries, on average, 9.7 m³/s, with minimum of 2 m³/s and maximum of 24 m³/s[7] with a peak during the summer months.

Pollution of the water and of the riverbank is a major environmental issue in Córdoba. Periodic cleaning operations are carried out to increase the quality of the water and to preserve the viability of fishing, both in the San Roque reservoir area and downstream.

The largest ethnic groups in Córdoba are Italians/Italian Argentine and Spaniards/Spanish Argentine (mostly Galicians and Basques/Basque Argentine). Waves of immigrants from other European countries arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the rest of Western Europe came immigrants from Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland and Scandinavia (especially Sweden). Eastern Europeans also arrived from nations such as Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Armenia and the Balkans (especially Greece, Serbia and Montenegro). By the 1910s, 43 percent of the city population was non-native Argentine after immigration rates peaked.[13][14] Important Lebanese, Georgian, Syrian and Armenian communities have had a significant presence in commerce and civic life since the beginning of the 20th century.

Most immigrants, regardless of origin, settled in the city or around Greater Córdoba. However, in the early stages of immigration, some formed settlements (especially agricultural settlements) in different parts of the city, often encouraged by the Argentine government and/or sponsored by private individuals and organizations.

Córdoba is the second largest city in the country in population and concentrates 40.9% of the Córdoba Province population of 3,216,993 inhabitants and represents almost 3.3% of the Argentine population, which according to estimates to June 2008, reached 39,745,613 inhabitants. Driven by migration both domestic and from abroad, the city's rate of population growth was an elevated 3.2% annually from 1914 to 1960; but, it has been declining steadily since then, and has averaged around 0.4% a year, since the national census of 2001.

According to the last provincial census of 2008, the city has 1,315,540 inhabitants, representing an increase of 3.78% with regard to the 1,267,521 registered during the national census of 2001.[15] Greater Córdoba is the metropolitan area of the city of Córdoba, a union of medium localities of the department Colón, from the north to the south. Greater Córdoba is the second-largest urban agglomeration in Argentina in both population and surface area.

The growth of the metropolitan area was not equal in all directions, it spreads approximately up to 50 km (31 mi) to the northwest of the Córdoba city centre in a thin succession of small localities. This is almost the maximum distance from the Buenos Aires city center to the most distant of its metropolitan area points; whereas in the rest of the cardinal points it comes to 15 km (9 mi).

The city receives a constant flow of students from the northeastern and southwestern regions of Argentina and of other South American countries, owed principally to the National University of Córdoba, which increases gradually the city population. Córdoba grows constantly, expanding especially towards the southern areas of Alta Gracia and Villa Carlos Paz.

Córdoba is home to one of the most important financial districts in South America. The district is home to the Bank of Córdoba and other private banking institutions. Sightseeing places include San Martín Square, the Jesuit Block (declared UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Genaro Pérez Museum. The streets mostly follow a regular checkerboard pattern, and the main thoroughfares are Vélez Sarsfield, Colón, General Paz, Dean Funes Avenue, and 27 April Street. The point of origin of the city is the San Martin Square, surrounded by the Municipality and Central Post Office.

Downtown Córdoba is home of large shopping malls, notably Patio Olmos. This mall is the result of a massive regeneration effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side old warehouses into elegant offices and commercial centres. An important cultural point of interest is the Palacio Ferreyra, a mansion built in 1916 based on plans by the French architect, Ernest Sanson. The Ferreyra palace was converted into the Evita Perón Museum of Fine Arts (the city's second) in 2007. Located at the corner of Hipólito Yrigoyen and Chacabuco Avenues, it has now been restored and adapted to house the city's principal art gallery.

New Córdoba has a number of important avenues such as Yrigoyen and Vélez Sarsfield. Most of the university students in this growing city live in this neighbourhood, and a recent construction boom has been transforming this upscale area into the fastest-growing section in the city.

Tejas Park at New Córdoba.

Ciudad Universitaria is a district located in the southern area of the city, next to the 17 hectares (42 acres) Sarmiento Park, the city's most important one. The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC) has most of its facilities in this area. The UNC was the first university built in Argentina, founded by Jesuits around 1622. The Universidad Nacional de Córdoba is also famous for the "Reforma Universitaria", a student-led protest that started in March 1918 in the Medical School, in which the students rebelled against the prevailing university system. This was an old anachronistic system in which professors were authoritarian and inefficient, with a religiously oriented curriculum. Eventually this revolt lead to a more secular curriculum and some significant re-structuring of the university government. The distinctive nature of the movement derived not only from its radical demands, but also from its extremist tactics, the level of sophistication of its organization, and its major continental impact. In fact, the Reform Movement rapidly spread from Córdoba to Lima (1919), Cuzco (1920), Santiago de Chile (1920), and Mexico (1921). Another important university, the UTN, dedicated to the teaching of engineering sciences, is located in this part of the city. There are also a gym and football stadium and tennis courts for the students. The Córdoba Zoo is located in this district.

Located about 6 km (4 mi) from downtown Córdoba is the Cerro de Las Rosas. This very affluent neighborhood is famous for its schools, shops and educational institutions. This neighborhood's economic activity centers around the Rafael Núñez Avenue, a long wide road that stretches for a few kilometers and has restaurants, boutiques, banks and other shops. Over the last decade, this neighborhood has experienced steady growth; however, some of its most affluent inhabitants have moved to gated communities for security reasons. Some of these communities, such as "Las Delicias" and "Lomas de los Carolinos", are in the old Camino a La Calera.

Buses are, by far, the most popular way of transportation around Córdoba Province. There are many different companies that provide long distance, short distance and urban services. They all have their own prices, that are not cheap compared to the rest of Argentina. Córdoba is one of the Provinces with higher transportation rates. Urban buses used to be paid with a card called RedBus

Córdoba Mitre station façade.

Tren de las Sierras.

A map of the future metro system.

Rail transport in Córdoba has commuter and long-distance services, all operated by state-owned Trenes Argentinos. From the Mitre railway station depart trains to Villa María[20] while the Tren de las Sierras connects the cities of Alta Córdoba with Cosquín.

From Retiro station of Buenos Aires trains reach Córdoba twice a week with an estimated journey time of 18 hours. Many people choose the train because is really cheap, but it takes almost twice the time that would take to do the same trip by bus (around eight hours).[21][22]

The Tren de las Sierras is a tourist service that crosses part of the Valle de Punilla, Quebrada del Río Suquía and borders the Dique San Roque's Lake. It has two services per day with an additional service on weekends. It takes between 2 and 3 hours to go from Alta Córdoba Station to Cosquín.[23]

Córdoba has two railway stations, the Córdoba (Mitre) originally built by the Central Argentine R. in 1886. That station has been an intermediate stop for trains to Tucumán, successively operated by Ferrocarriles Argentinos and then by private consortiums such as Ferrocentral. The other station is Alta Córdoba, built and operated by British-owned Córdoba North Western in 1891, and currently terminus of Tren de las Sierras.

Railway stations in the city of Córdoba are:

The Argentine government had projected to build a high-speed train between Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba. It would eventually join Córdoba and Buenos Aires, with an intermediate stop in Rosario, in about 3 hours at speeds of up to 350 km/h (220 mph).[24] Originally scheduled to be started in 2008, with its inauguration in 2010, the project was finally dismissed in December 2012.[25] The total cost of the rail had been estimated at US$4,000,000,000. French company Alstom, that had won the tender to build high-speed rail, admitted to have paid bribes to the Argentine authorities.[26]

On 10 December 2007 it was announced that a consortium of Iecsa/Gela companies was to build a US$1.1 billion metro system in Córdoba. In April 2008, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, signed the project into law. The project has been suspended since 2012.

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Córdoba, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 64 min. 13.8% of public transit riders, ride for more than two hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 21 min, while 43.% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 5 km, while 4% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.[27]

The Literary activity flourished in the city at the beginning of the last century. Córdoba was the city of Leopoldo Lugones, Arturo Capdevila and Marcos Aguinis, among many other prestigious writers. Among the city's best-known museums are the Caraffa Fine Arts Museum, founded in 1916, and the Evita Fine Arts Museum, founded in 2007. The Paseo del Buen Pastor, a cultural center opened in 2007, features an art museum, as well as a shopping gallery devoted to local vintners, cheese makers, leather crafters and other artisans.

The typical music in Córdoba is the cuarteto, heard in many parties and pubs. Among the most popular cuarteto singers are Carlos La Mona Jiménez, Rodrigo, La Barra and Jean Carlos. The places they usually sing are named bailes (dances). One of the first groups was Cuarteto de Oro.

Other music styles popular with the youth are electronic music (or electro), as well as reggaeton. These are commonly played at boliches, as night clubs are known in Argentina. Córdoba is sometimes referred to as "the nightlife city" (or "the city that never sleeps"), because of its wide range of clubs and teenage matinées (dancing clubs).

Córdoba's rich musical culture also encompasses classical, jazz, rock and pop, in a variety of venues.

Teatro Libertador San Martín regularly features concerts, operas, folk music, and plays.

La Cañada (an embanked stream), perhaps the most emblematic structure in Córdoba.

The Cathedral appeared as a project in the first map of Córdoba in 1577.

Córdoba has many historical monuments left over from the colonial era. In the centre, near the Plaza San Martín square, is the Jesuit Cathedral, whose altar is made of stone and silver from Potosí. Every ornament inside is made of gold and the roof is all painted with different images from the Bible. Another important historic building is the Cabildo (colonial government house), located next to the church. The Jesuit Block, the Monserrat School, the University and the church of the Society of Jesus are also located in Córdoba.

The first festival of the year is in February, the Carnival, where children enjoy throwing water balloons at each other on the street.

Then in the middle of the year, on 20 July, Friends Day is celebrated. Usually, most of the teenagers meet at Parque de las Naciones or Parque Sarmiento and spend the afternoon there. At night, they go dancing to different places, and enjoy a drink.

The last festival is Spring Day, held on 21 September, which is Students' Day. Many go to the park or spend the day in the nearby city of Villa Carlos Paz. There they can enjoy concerts, dancing, going downtown or visiting the river bank.