Understand

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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 areas show a mix of well-designed modern buildings and old houses, often built in neo-colonial style. The Barrio Güemes, which is protected by municipal laws, is particularly pleasant, with an 19th century athmosphere rather similar to Buenos Aires' "San Telmo" district, but more movement.

The city district itself covers 529 square km and has 1,3 million inhabitants, but there are many satellite towns outside this area. Those west of the city lie in the hills of the Sierras de Córdoba and are residential areas with some tourist interest, such like Río Ceballos, La Calera, and the famous holiday centre Villa Carlos Paz near the San Roque dam, which provides the city with potable water and some electricity. North and east of the city, in the plains, there are poor suburbs with a slum-like appearance, like Juárez Celman and Malvinas Argentinas.

The climate in city and surroundings is pleasant the year round. Even in winter there are frequent warm, sunny days, although you must be prepared for cold nights and some chilly, cloudy periods, which never last more than a week or so. In summer, the rainy season (November to March) it is hot and humid and there are frequent innundations because of the bad state of the drainage system. Best time to visit is March to May and August to November, when it's not too hot nor too cool and there is very little rain.

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...