Cordoba (Spain)

Córdoba is a Spanish city and municipality in Andalusia, capital of the homonymous province, located in a depression on the banks of the Guadalquivir and at the foot of Sierra Morena. It houses a population of 326,039 inhabitants in 2020, being the third largest and most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and Malaga, and the twelfth in Spain. Its metropolitan area comprises eight municipalities, with a population of 360,298 inhabitants in 2020, the twenty-third most populous in Spain.

Founded by the Romans during the II century B.C. C., became the capital of Later Hispania in times of the Roman Republic, as well as the province of Bética during the Roman Empire. However, its peak occurred during the Muslim domination of the Iberian Peninsula, when it rose as the capital of the Emirate of Córdoba, while during the Caliphate of Córdoba it became the most inhabited, cultured and opulent city in Europe, as well as the a world leading center of education. During the long European Middle Ages, letters and sciences flourished in Córdoba, laying the foundations for the European Renaissance. Mosques, libraries, baths and souks abounded, in addition to having a multitude of fountains, public lighting and sewage during the time of Caliphate's greatest splendor.

Córdoba is currently the city with the most Unesco World Heritage titles in the world. In 1984, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba was included in the renowned list; in 1994 the historic center that surrounds it would do so. The Fiesta de los Patios Cordobeses was designated Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2012, and in July 2018 the palatine city of Medina Azahara, on the outskirts of the urban center It was also declared a World Heritage Site. It has one of the largest historical centers in Europe, with 246.73 hectares with monuments dating from Roman times.

Toponymy

The etymological meaning of the name of the city has been widely discussed in historiography and there is currently no consensus on the matter. The first known name for the town is Corduba, given in the form of Colonia Patricia Corduba after the Roman foundation of the city in the I a. C. and that is supposed earlier. Since the first appearance of Córdoba in ancient texts refers to the establishment of a Phoenician trading post in the vicinity of the city, a possible Semitic origin has been given to the place name. Thus, Qorteba would come to mean "oil mill", for some authors, or "good city" from Qart-tuba for others. Other etymologies refer to the existence of an Iberian settlement prior to the arrival of the Phoenicians considering that the ending uba is widely known in Hispania meaning either "hill" or "river", referred to as Oba the old name of the Guadalquivir river, being Qart-Oba the "city of the Oba". It is also possible that its origin is the Carthaginian Kart-Juba, named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca in honor of a Numidian general named Juba, who fought and died in a battle in the region, around the year 230 a. C..

Symbols

Shield

In 1241, King Ferdinand III ordered and granted the City Council to have its own seal "known and communal to all", as we can see in the Córdoba Charter, which also regulated the political and legal functioning of the city of Córdoba then.

Mando etiam et concedo quod concilium Cordubense habeat sigillum cognitum et comune

Original text in Latin of the Fuero de Córdoba de Fernando III

Command and I object that the Council of Cordoba has its own known and communal seal for all

Translation into Spanish of the previous text

The shield is a view of the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir river, with the Albolafia waterwheel on the left; with the wall and the bridge gate on it; and the tower of the Mosque-Cathedral flanked by three palm trees and some buildings in the background.

Flag of Córdoba

Between the 16th and XX the current shield of the province of Córdoba was used in the city, until 1983 when the previous shield designed by the Council of Córdoba in 1241 was resumed.

Currently, there is also a logo used by the City Council that is a simplification of the city's shield.

Flag

The Cordoba flag is a rectangle with a width equal to two thirds of its length (ratio 3:2), in a swollen wine red color with the city's coat of arms in the center, surrounded by a circular red border with a yellow border.

Geography

The municipal term of Córdoba occupies 1,245 km², approximately 9% of the total of the province. The main population center being the most populated area, there are six districts: El Higuerón, Alcolea, Santa Cruz, Cerro Muriano, Villarrubia and Santa María de Trassierra and a Minor Local Entity, Encinarejo, born either as agricultural settlements or as residential nuclei. The main nucleus of Córdoba is located on the banks of the Guadalquivir river that crosses it from east to west forming several meanders. To the north of the municipal term is Sierra Morena and to the south an extensive countryside. In this way, the altitude of the municipality varies between 78 meters on the banks of the Guadalquivir and 692 meters (Cerro Torre Árboles) in the Sierra de Córdoba, belonging to Sierra Morena. The city rises to 123 meters above sea level.

Northwest: Villaviciosa de Córdoba	North: Obejo	Northeast: Adamuz
West: Almodóvar del Río		This: Villafranca de Córdoba, El Carpio, Bujalance and Cañete de las Torres
Southwest: Guadalcázar, La Rambla (exclave), La Carlota and La Victoria	South: La Rambla, Fernán Núñez, Montemayor and Espejo	Sureste: Castro del Río

Orography

Within the municipal term, two zones can be delimited by their orography, the countryside and the mountains. To the north of Córdoba are the foothills of Sierra Morena with steep slopes that allow you to ascend from approximately 100 meters above sea level from the main nucleus to 692 meters from Torre Árboles hill, the highest level of the municipality. The average altitude of these sierras is found around 400 meters, alternating large valleys carved by seasonal streams and tributaries of the Guadalquivir river on soft materials.

To the south of the river and in a narrow strip to the north of it are low lands with slight undulations of the terrain that form the so-called campiña. This region is born as a consequence of sedimentation associated with geological processes derived from the folding of the Betic mountain ranges and sedimentation derived from the action of large watercourses. For this reason, the countryside itself and the fluvial terraces differ in this area, the average altitude of the first being between 200 and 300 meters, highlighting the Cerro de las Pilillas with 361 meters above sea level. sea, and that of the second between 100 and 150 meters.

Hydrography

Satellite view of the city

The entire municipal area of Córdoba is located within the Guadalquivir basin, a river that completely crosses it and acts as a receptor for all the minor channels of the municipality. The Guadiato and Guadalmellato tributaries are born in the mountains, with flow all year round and numerous seasonal streams. All these water courses exert a strong erosive action on the ground due to the steep slope that they must overcome before pouring their waters into the Guadalquivir. The Guadalmellato river dams its waters in the San Rafael de Navallana reservoir. To the south of the term is the Guadajoz tributary with numerous seasonal streams that form a complex network in the countryside.

Geology

The municipality of Córdoba is located on the sedimentation basin associated with the Guadalquivir river that separates the Iberian Plateau of Paleozoic origin from the Betic Cordilleras formed during the alpine folding. The sedimentary basin had its origin during the Quaternary era when materials from the nearby mountain ranges were deposited in the Betic furrow, a depression formed after its uplift, and its subsequent consolidation. The materials present are of a different nature, highlighting the marls, limestones and conglomerates. Two zones are differentiated in this sedimentation basin, on the one hand, the countryside has sedimentary materials of marine origin and with a great power deposited in the first moments of the orogeny. alpine, on the other hand, the area of the valley of the Guadalquivir river has sedimentary materials of fluvial origin resulting from transport and accumulation and more modern and in continuous movement. To the north of the term rocks belonging to the foothills of Sierra Morena outcrop. There is great complexity in the rocks present, limestone, schists and conglomerates, and the metamorphic rocks stand out especially, mainly amphibolites corresponding to the so-called band of Shears Badajoz-Córdoba and which extends 400 kilometers from the northwest of the municipality. northward. These allochthonous formations are related to various units in the north of the peninsula and were formed towards the Cambrian by a mechanism of subduction and rapid ascent that caused a strong crystallization of eclogites.

Natural environment

Biogeographically, the municipality participates in two chorological provinces with different types of potential vegetation. The mountain area corresponds to the Luso-Extremadurense province and its typical forests would be holm oaks and cork oaks. Due to the complicated orogeny of the area and the low economic value of the soil they occupy, it is still possible to find valuable plant communities in the area. The plain and countryside of Córdoba belongs to the Bética province and its potential vegetation would be holm oaks and poplars in the areas close to the river. However, the strong anthropic action developed for centuries in this region due to the great agronomic potential of the soil has made any trace of natural vegetation that could exist in the area completely disappear.

Climate

Climogram of Córdoba. Airport observatory data

It has a Mediterranean climate. According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate of Córdoba is Mediterranean of type Csa. The winters are mild, although with some frosts that have sometimes become strong, due to its distance from the sea. Summers are very hot, with significant daily temperature fluctuations and maximum temperatures that, on average, are among the highest in Europe, exceeding 40 °C on several occasions every year and reaching over 45 °C. Although the lows are cooler, the average temperature reaches 28 °C in July and August. The precipitations are concentrated in the coldest months, due to the aforementioned Atlantic influence, since they are produced by the entry of storms from the west, a situation that occurs more in the period from December to February. It presents a strong summer drought, typical of Mediterranean climates. Annual rainfall reaches 500 mm, although there is a significant interannual irregularity. According to the Köppen climate classification, the city's climate is defined as Csa.

The maximum temperature recorded at the Córdoba airport observatory (located 6 km from the city) is 46.9 °C, on July 14, 2017 and August 14, 2021. The lowest minimum corresponds to at –8.2 °C on January 28, 2005.

Average weather parameters of Observatorio del Aeropuerto de Córdoba (reference period: 1981-2010, extremes: 1959-2018)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	22.9	27.8	33.0	34.0	41.2	45.0	46.9	46.9	45.4	36.0	29.7	23.5	46.9
Average temperature (°C)	14.9	17.4	21.3	22.8	27.4	32.8	36.9	36.5	31.6	25.1	19.1	15.3	25.1
Average temperature (°C)	9.25	11.15	14.35	16.05	20.0	24.65	27.95	27.95	24.25	19.05	13.45	10.4	18.6
Temp. medium (°C)	3.6	4.9	7.4	9.3	12.6	16.5	19.0	19.4	16.9	13.0	7.8	5.5	11.4
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-8.2	-5.0	4.2	0.2	2.4	7.0	11.0	11.0	6.0	1.0	-3.6	-7.8	-8.2
Total precipitation (mm)	65.6	55.2	49.3	55.0	40.3	13.4	2.2	5.3	34.9	85.6	79.6	111.0	597.4
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	7.2	6.1	4.9	6.7	4.9	1.4	0.4	0.6	3.2	6.9	5.9	8.1	56.6
Days of snow (≥)	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
Hours of sun	174.0	186.3	217.8	234.6	288.5	323.0	362.9	336.2	247.8	204.5	179.6	148.0	2903.2
Relative humidity (%)	76	71	64	60	55	48	41	43	52	66	73	79	60
Source: State Meteorology Agency

Demographics

According to the 2020 census, Córdoba has a population of 326,039 inhabitants and a population density of 259.9 inhabitants/km². Its metropolitan area has 360,300 inhabitants, including the capital. In 2014 there were a total of 3,129 births and 2,565 deaths. In 2015, the average age of the population was 41.76 years. 21.76% of the population was 19 years old or younger, 61.61% were between 20 and 64 years old, while 17.63% were over 64. In total in 2015 there were 170,051 women (51.95 % of total population) and 157,311 men (48.05%).

Graphic of demographic evolution of Córdoba between 1842 and 2018

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute - Graphical development by Wikipedia. Between the census of 1857 and the previous one, the term of the municipality grows because it incorporates Santa María de Trassierra and between the census of 2001 and the previous one (in 1996), the term of the municipality grows because it receives the entity Santa Cruz de Montilla.

Prehistory

A settlement is known from the iii millennium BC on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba, on the Hill of the Burnt, although it is unknown if the Turdetan city remained in time. There is evidence that the oldest materials in this site come from the Bronze, Ancient and Middle Ages, due to excavations in Luzón and Mata. There is evidence of an occupied settlement between the iii millennium and the ii millennium to C. (Bronze Age) in the Campo de la Verdad, on the other side of the river, which could have been occupied at the same time as the settlement of the Hill of the Burned. There is evidence of other settlements from the iii millennium BC in the surroundings of the urban center, such as one identified as Cañito María Ruiz.

In addition, remains are known from the beginning of the Copper Age, towards the end of the iv millennium BC. The best known is in the neighborhood of Alcolea, next to the bridge. The most recent discovery is that of Arruzafa-Tablero Alto, which has provided a burial with four people buried simultaneously, near El Brillante, a town about which hardly anything is known.

History

Founded in 169 B.C. C., Córdoba was the capital of the Provincia Hispania Ulterior Baetica (Bética), a period of splendor, in which it came to have numerous recreational buildings, providing the Latin world with great philosophers such as Lucio Anneo Seneca, orators like Marco Anneo Seneca and poets like Lucanus. Later it could have been part of the province of Spania of the Byzantine Empire, although this fact is not proven.

Middle Ages

In the year 711, the Arab and Berber armies invaded the Iberian Peninsula, and in less than seven years almost the entire territory came to be occupied by the invaders. Córdoba was the capital of the Independent Emirate and the Umayyad Caliphate of the West, period in which it reached its peak, reaching between 250,000 and 450,000 inhabitants, being in the X century a of the largest cities in the world, in Europe only surpassed by Constantinople, as well as a cultural, political and economic node. Recent archaeological discoveries in urban areas that were considered to be occupied by almunias and orchards, such as the meander of the Guadalquivir river between the Levante neighborhood, the Fátima neighborhood and the Polígono de las Quemadas, make the margin of 300,000 uncertain. to the million inhabitants reported in Muslim chronicles around the year 1000. With the exception of Constantinople, in the middle of the X century There was no similar city in Western Europe in terms of built-up area, since at that time none exceeded 30,000 people. Leopoldo Torres Balbás estimated the population of the city around the century X in more than 100,000 inhabitants, while other sources speak of 200,000 or 300,000. José Calvo Poyato has considered the figure of one million inhabitants an exaggeration and an mistake.

During the government of Abderramán I, construction began on the great mosque of Córdoba (completed in the X century) on the basis of the Basilica of San Vicente Mártir, a temple shared by Muslims and Christians until that date. From then on, the Christians had to build their church on the outskirts of Córdoba. It was claimed that the arm of Muhammad was preserved in the mosque, and it became a place of pilgrimage for Muslims. One publication says: "Its sacredness was surpassed only by Mecca and [...] visiting it absolved the faithful from the obligation to make the pilgrimage to Arabia." Likewise, the city had a famous university and a public library containing some 400,000 volumes. There were twenty-seven free schools to teach poor children, and the level of literacy for both boys and girls was very high. Young men belonging to the nobility of the Catholic kingdoms of northern Spain received their education at the Moorish court, and the wealthy women of France ordered their most elegant costumes in Córdoba. The city was adorned with gardens, waterfalls and artificial lakes, and by means of an aqueduct, fresh water was supplied in abundance to the fountains and public baths, of which, according to a Muslim chronicler, there were seven hundred. Sumptuous palaces could be seen throughout the city, one of which, Al-Zahra (Medina Azahara), on the outskirts of Córdoba, required twenty-five years and the hard work of 10,000 workers to complete. Its ruins testify even today to its former greatness.

Nevertheless, the death of Almanzor unleashed anarchy in Córdoba and an open dispute for power, which gave rise to the looting and looting of Córdoba and Medina Azahara in the first years of the millennium. The old jewel in the crown was relegated in a few years to a city of secondary importance in the peninsular, Muslim and European context.

In 1236, Ferdinand III the Saint took the city. Said monarch orders the construction of the so-called Fernandina churches. Alfonso X establishes the convent of Santa Clara and during the reign of Alfonso XI the synagogue of Córdoba is built. Likewise, and to commemorate the victory of the battle of Salado over the Benimerines, the Royal Collegiate Church of San Hipólito is built, where this king and his father are buried. Also during his reign, construction began on the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos.

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  View of Cordoba from the south, by Anton Van der Wyngaerde (called "Antonio de las Viñas" in Spain) in 1567, commissioned by Felipe II to collect views of his cities. In the foreground is the southern shore of the Guadalquivir in which the tower of the Calahorra is clearly appreciated. Starting from the tower and crossing the river is the Roman bridge and, further north, the Mosque-Cathedral can be observed

Contemporary Ages

XIX century

View of Cordoba in the middle of the century XIX in L' Espagne a vol d'oiseau of Alfred Guesdon

In September 1804, a focus of yellow fever was detected in the city, an epidemic that ended in just a few months with the lives of more than 1,500 Cordovans. The outbreak began in Calle Almonas, possibly coming from the port of Malaga, a city that suffered a severe outbreak in the summer of 1804 with more than 11,400 deaths. The infection will soon jump to Córdoba, affecting the capital and several surrounding municipalities such as Espejo, Montilla or La Rambla. In the municipality of Córdoba, the Axerquía area spread to the rest of the city, although walls were erected and several streets were blocked. The gates of the city remained closed, except for the gates of Rincón and Puerta Nueva, where bailiffs and a doctor were stationed to carry out the sanitary control. At the end of November 1804 the end of the epidemic was declared, which was celebrated with parties and merriment.

At the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814) the city suffered systematic looting by the French imperial forces, after having briefly occupied it in June 1808. The city would be occupied by them again in 1810, in during the course of General Jean-de-Dieu Soult's campaign in Andalusia, remaining under French control until the withdrawal of 1812.

In 1836, during the First Carlist War, it was briefly occupied by General Miguel Gómez Damas.

The old central station, in an image of José Spreafico (1867)

In the middle of the XIX century, the railway arrived in Córdoba, with the inauguration of the Córdoba-Seville line in 1859. In the following years, other routes were inaugurated: the Córdoba-Málaga line (1865), the Manzanares-Córdoba line (1866), the Córdoba-Belmez line (1873) or the Marchena-Valchillón line (1885). As a result, the Córdoba capital became an important railway junction, which moved a large amount of passenger and merchandise traffic. A station was built, the well-known "central station", which maintained connections with Seville, Alcázar de San Juan and Madrid. Some years later, another station was built nearby, that of Cercadilla, the head of the routes to Málaga and Belmez. The connection with the Marchena line was made through the Valchillón railway junction, located to the south of the city. A large complex of railway facilities was articulated around the stations, with large rail yards, locomotive depots, roundabouts, workshops, docks-warehouses, etc.

Twentieth and twenty-first century

Buñolerías at a fair (1904)

Currently, it is one of the best-preserved cities in Spain, with a very extensive historic center, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco on December 17, 1984. Likewise, the city presents areas of reference to the modern Córdoba of the XXI century, like the Zoco and Plan Renfe neighborhoods for their urban quality.

Córdoba was a candidate for the European cultural capital for the year 2016, being a finalist to represent Spain.

The Junta de Andalucía is studying the creation of the Metropolitan Area of Córdoba that would be made up, in addition to the capital, of the towns of Villafranca de Córdoba, Obejo, La Carlota, Villaharta, Villaviciosa de Córdoba, Almodóvar del Río and Guadalcázar, thus having a population of approximately 362,000 inhabitants.

On July 1, 2018, Medina Azahara was declared a World Heritage Site.

Heritage

Poster next to the bridge gate that represents the four World Heritages that houses Cordoba

Mezquita-Cathedral of Córdoba

The alley of the Flowers and the Mosque-Cathedral to the bottom

Roman Mausoleum on the Paseo de la Victoria

Historical architecture

Exterior of the Mosque-Cathedral, Calle Cardenal Herrero

Córdoba, an ancient city, has the second largest historic center in Europe, the largest urban space in the world declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It is precisely here that a large part of the city's historic buildings are found. It is worth noting the most important building and symbol of the city, the Mosque of Córdoba and current cathedral which, together with the Roman bridge, form the most well-known facet of the city. From Roman times, in addition to the bridge, you can find the Roman temple located on Claudio Marcelo street and dedicated in its time to the imperial cult, the Roman theater located under the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Córdoba; It is the largest known in all of Hispania, the Roman mausoleum dedicated to a wealthy family of the time, the colonial forum, the adiectum forum, the amphitheater and the remains of the palace of Emperor Maximian Herculeo in the archaeological site of Cercadilla.

Near the mosque-cathedral is the old Jewish quarter made up of a multitude of irregular streets, such as calleja de las Flores and calleja del Pañuelo, where you can visit the synagogue and the house of Sepharad. At the southwestern end of the old town is the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, former residence of the kings and headquarters of the Inquisition, and adjacent to it are the Royal Stables, a breeding place for the Andalusian horse. Near the stables, next to the wall, are the old Caliphate baths. In the south of the old town and to the east of the mosque, located in the Plaza del Potro, is the Posada del Potro, mentioned in literary works such as Don Quixote and La Feria de los Discretos. . Both the inn and the square receive their name from the fountain located in the center of the square, which represents a foal. Not far from this square is the Portillo arch.

Along the course of the Guadalquivir are the mills of the Guadalquivir, buildings from the Muslim era that took advantage of the force of the current to grind flour, such as the Albolafia mill, the Alegría mill, the Martos, the Enmedio mill, the Salmoral mill, the San Antonio mill, the Hierro mill, the Téllez mill, the San Rafael mill and the Don Tello or Pápalo Tierno mill.

Surrounding the extensive historic center is the ancient Roman wall, of which some canvases are preserved; the Puerta de Almodóvar, the Puerta de Sevilla and the Puerta del Puente, which are the only three surviving gates of the thirteen that the city had; some towers such as the Malmuerta tower, the Belén tower and the Puerta del Rincón tower; and the fortresses of the Torre de la Calahorra and the Torre de los Donceles.

Scattered throughout the old town are palatial buildings such as the Viana Palace, the Merced Palace, the Orive Palace, the Aguayos Palace, the Luna Palace, the Palace of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Palace of the Marquises del Carpio and the palace of the Marquis of Benamejí, among others.

On the outskirts of the city is the archaeological site of the city of Medina Azahara (Madinat Al-Zahra) which together with the Alhambra in Granada constitutes the pinnacle of Hispano-Muslim architecture.

Other monuments are:

• Cuesta del Bailio.
• The Alminar of San Juan, from an old mosque, is preserved from the Caliphal period.

Fernandina churches

There are twelve Fernandina churches, and they are those Christian temples that were ordered to be erected in Córdoba (many were transformations of mosques that, in turn, had been churches during the Visigothic period) by Fernando III "the Saint" after the reconquest of the city in 1236. The mission of each of these churches was double: on the one hand, to be spiritual centers of the city, functioning as churches; and on the other hand, to be the administrative centers of the city of Córdoba, being each one of the churches, heads of the neighborhoods or collaciones in which the city was divided from the Middle Ages and up to the century XX. Some of those that are preserved are:

• Church of San Nicolás de la Villa. Located on Concepción Street.
• Church of San Nicolás de la Ajerquía. Missing Church. Formerly located on the Paseo de la Ribera. Most of its enseres are currently in the church of San Francisco.
• Church of San Miguel. Located in San Miguel Square.
• Church of Saint John and All Saints. Located on Lope de Hoces Street.
• Church of Santa Marina de Aguas Santas. Located in Santa Marina Square.
• Church of Saint Augustine. Located in St. Augustine Square.
• Church of Saint Andrew. Located on Realejo Street.
• Church of San Lorenzo. Located in San Lorenzo Square.
• Church of Santiago. Located on Agustín Moreno Street.
• Basilica of Saint Peter. Located in San Pedro Square. There is the silver urn with the relics of the Saint Martyrs of Cordoba, source of great devotion in the city and headlines of the Brotherhood of Mercy It was declared Basilica Minor by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.
• Church of La Magdalena. Located on Andújar Avenue. Today the church is not the subject of Catholic worship, but it is a cultural equipment used mainly by the CajaSur Foundation.
• Church of St. Paul. Main entrance by Capitulares and side entrance through St. Paul Street. It is part of the Manzana de San Pablo, which consists of a large orchard, now converted into a park, to which they looked at several palaces and manor houses, among it the palace of Orive (also called the palace of the Villalones), which is why the orchard is also known as the gardens of Orive. The ruins of the ancient Roman circus were discovered in the 1990s.

Other religious monuments

Church of Saint Hippolytus

• Royal St. Hippolyte. In it are buried Fernando IV the Emplaced and Alfonso XI the Justiciero, kings of Castile and Leon.
• Church of Our Lady of Grace (Trinitarian Fathers).
• Church of Saint Joseph and Holy Spirit.
• Convent of Santa Ana.
• Church of San Antonio de Padua.
• Conventual Church of the Holy Angel.
• Sanctuary of Mary Helper.
• Church of San Roque.
• Church of Our Lady of Peace.
• Church Hospital of Jesus Nazareth.
• Conventual Church of San Cayetano.
• Hospital Church of San Jacinto.
• Church of San Francisco and San Eulogio. Located inside the San Francisco Compás, on the street of the same name, known as the street of the Fair, in the heart of the city.
• Monastery of Saint Jerome.
• Church of Santa Maria de Trassierra.
• Church of the Saviour and Santo Domingo de Silos. Located in the Company Square. There resides the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre.
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of Linares.
• Tower of Santo Domingo de Silos.
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Fuensanta.
• San Bartolomé Chapel.
• Basilica of the Juramento of San Rafael. Located in the Barrio de San Lorenzo. In this Basilica lies the image of the Archangel, custodian of the city.
• Ermita del Socorro, located in the square of the same name, very close to the Plaza de la Corredera.
• Mosque of the Andaluces, whose origin dates from the centuryXII and currently has an Islamic use.
• Regina Coeli Convent. Built in 1499 and currently in a state of abandonment.

Urban sculpture

Scattered throughout the city are the so-called Triunfos de San Rafael, monuments that show devotion to Archangel Raphael, guardian of the city. Most are found at the entrances to the city such as the Roman bridge (1651) or the Puerta del Puente (1781) or in the old train station (1743), since he is the patron saint of travelers. In addition, there were also outdoor altarpieces, of which currently only the Altar to San Rafael (1801) on Lineros street is preserved.

In the western part of the old town are the statue of Seneca (next to the Puerta de Almodóvar), the statue of Averroes (next to the Puerta de la Luna), and that of Maimonides (in the Plaza de Tiberias) in homage to these three great Cordovan philosophers. Further south, next to the Seville gate, are the sculpture of the poet Ibn Zaydun and the sculpture of the writer and poet Ibn Hazm and, inside the Alcázar, the monument to the Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus.

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  Statue to Seneca

• 

  Statue to Maimonides

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  Statue to Averroes

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  Statue to Alhakén II

There are also various sculptures placed in the many squares of the old town. In the central Plaza de las Tendillas is the equestrian statue of the Great Captain, in the Plaza de Capuchinos is the Cristo de los Faroles, in the Plaza de la Trinidad is the statue of Luis de Góngora, in the Plaza del Cardenal Salazar is the bust of Al-Gafequi, in the Plaza de Capuchinas there is a statue of Bishop Osio, in the Plaza del Conde de Priego you can see the monument in honor of Manolete and in the Campo Santo de los Mártires there is a statue of Alhakén II and the monument to lovers

In the Gardens of Agriculture you can see the monument to the painter Julio Romero de Torres, the bust of the sculptor Mateo Inurria, the bust of the poet Martínez Rücker and the sculpture dedicated to the gardener Aniceto García Roldán who was assassinated in said park. Further south, in the gardens of the Duke of Rivas, is the statue of the writer and poet Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, made by the famous sculptor Mariano Benlliure.

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  Equestrian statue of the Grand Captain

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  The Christ of Pharaohs

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  memorial monument to Julio Romero de Torres

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  The Man Rio

In the Guadalquivir river, near the San Rafael bridge, is what is known as the Island of Sculptures. It is an elongated artificial island in which there are a dozen sculptures made of stone during the International Sculpture Symposium. Upstream of the river, near the Miraflores bridge, was the River Man, an original sculpture that pretended to be a bather looking up at the sky and whose orientation varied depending on the current of the river. An information plaque still exists today, but the sculpture has disappeared, washed away in November 2007. There are plans to return it to its site.

Sculptures in homage to the caretakers of the courtyards of Córdoba

On the occasion of the declaration as a World Heritage Site of the Festival of the Patios Cordobeses in 2012, two figures were commissioned from the Cordovan sculptor José Manuel Belmonte that represent the past, present and future of this tradition. third to the same sculptor to commemorate the centenary of the Festival of the Patios, celebrated during 2021.

• The regadera (April 2014), located at the gate of the Corner. It is the first sculpture of the three that form part of the sculptural group known as the Monument to the caregivers of the courtyards. This bronze sculpture shows a woman with the traditional cane by watering the pots of her courtyard. This represents the present.
• Grandpa and grandson (May 2015), located in Plaza Manuel Garrido de San Basilio. It is the second sculpture, it represents a grandfather (the past) who gives a pot to his grandson (the future) to continue with tradition.
• The well of the flowers (July 2022), located in Poeta Juan Bernier Square. This third sculptural set represents a grandmother and her granddaughter during the care of the plants in the courtyard, highlighting the importance of the generational relay for the Fiesta de los Patios.

Bridges

The city of Córdoba currently has seven bridges:

Roman bridge of Cordoba on the river Guadalquivir. In the background, the Mosque-catedral

• Puente Romano: located on the river Guadalquivir at its pass through Cordoba, which unites the area of the Campo de la Verdad with the Barrio de la Catedral. It was the only bridge that counted the city for twenty centuries, until the construction of the San Rafael bridge, in the middle of the centuryXX.. On 9 January 2008, the greatest refurbishment that the Roman bridge has had in its history was inaugurated. Built in the early centuryId. C., during the period of Roman domination in Cordoba, on the river Guadalquivir (probably replacing a more primitive one of wood), has a length of about 331 meters and is composed of 16 arches, although it originally had 17. It was an important means of entrance to the city from the southern part of the Iberian peninsula because it was the only point to cross the river without using any kind of boat. The Augusta Way that was going from Rome to Cadiz was probably going through it. On the side of the bridge you will find the tower of the Calahorra and on the other you will find the gate of the Bridge. Throughout his history he has suffered numerous reconstructions, mainly one in the caliphal era, one after the Reconquest and another at the beginning of the centuryXX.. These arrangements were more aesthetic than structural. In fact, only the number 14 and number 15 arch (starting to count from the bridge door) are original. The restoration was not without controversy due to the ambitious nature of the project that wanted to return to the bridge as much as possible to the original. To do this, the tajamares were cleaned, the original chairs were discovered, the adochining was replaced by a smooth granite floor and an existing baker was rehabilitated dedicated to San Acisclo and Santa Victoria. Likewise, the original level of the north end of the bridge was recovered, rooted with the bridge gate and the promenade of the Ribera.
• San Rafael Bridge: it is formed by eight arches of 25 meters of light and with a length of 217 meters. The width is 18.5 meters between pretiles, distributed in 12 meters of cobbled road for four circulations and two slabs of cement. This bridge was opened on April 29, 1953 by the dictator Franco being Antonio Cruz Conde mayor of the city. This bridge was the second bridge that Cordoba had after the Roman bridge joining the Corridor Avenue with the Plaza de Andalucía. In January 2004, the commemorative plates with which the bridge could be read disappeared: "S.E., the Head of State and General of the Army, Francisco Franco Bahamonde, inaugurated this bridge of Guadalquivir on April 29, 1953", which were in each of the entrances of the bridge, each in its own direction.
• Puente de Andalucía: is located in the river Guadalquivir in Córdoba. It is tiled type, with 444 meters length, 30 width and 114 meters maximum light. It was built in 2003 and designed by Javier Manterola. This bridge is part of the western round of Cordoba, formed in the part of the river by a hanging bridge.
• Miraflores Bridge: known as "the rusty bridge". This bridge links San Fernando Street and Ronda de Isasa with the peninsula of Miraflores. It was designed by Herrero, Suárez and Casado and opened on 2 May 2003. At the beginning, in 1989, the proposal of the architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava, which looked similar to the bridge Lusitania de Mérida, had been swept away; but it was finally discarded by its possible impact on the artistic set of the historic center, because with its height it could cover the vision of the Mosque.
• Puente de la Autovía del Sur: located in Cordoba on the river Guadalquivir, is a bridge that forms this motorway and the southeast round of Cordoba.
• Abbas Bridge Ibn Firnás: with 365 meters in length, is located west of Cordoba. It was inaugurated on January 14, 2011 and is part of the southern stretch of the western variant of Córdoba, CO-32.
• Arenal Bridge: located in Cordoba in the Guadalquivir River, which connects the avenue of the Campo de la Verdad with the Fairground of Cordoba.

There are also other bridges such as the viaduct that connects Avenida Arroyo del Moro and the roundabout of the poet Ibn Zaydun or the Roman bridge of Alcolea, located between the peripheral neighborhoods of Alcolea and Los Ángeles.

Gardens, parks and natural environments

Miraflores Park. At the bottom of the sculpture Salam

City of Children

Paseo de Córdoba

Source of Columbus Gardens

Gardens of the Alcazar

The city has more than 5.1 million square meters of urban public green areas, which gives a ratio of more than 15 m²/inhab. (as recommended by the WHO). If the peri-urban park Los Villares and Sotos de la Albolafia is considered, the total area amounts to 10.2 million square meters (31 m²/inhab.).

With 12.80% of the area of green area and urban trees, Córdoba is at the head of Andalusia and fourth at the national level (2019), although this figure will increase in the coming years with the opening of new parks proposed between 2020 and 2022. Among its urban trees, the 21,000 orange trees that run through the streets of the city stand out. The main parks in Córdoba are shown below, although there are some more that are not mentioned.

• The gardens of the Victoria: located in the center of the city, there are two newly remodeled facilities in the gardens; it is the old Case of the Circle of the Friendship, today Victoria Market, the first gastronomic market of Andalusia, and the music kiosk, as well as a small modernist fountain of the early centuryXX.. In the northern part, called the Duque de Rivas gardens, in honor of the celebrity writer and politician Cordobés, stands out a pergola of neoclassical style, the work of the architect Carlos Sáenz de Santamaría, used as an exhibition hall as well as a café bar.
• The gardens of the Agriculture: located between the gardens of the Victoria and the Paseo de Cordoba, there are numerous paths that converge radially in round runners within each one there is a fountain or pond. One of them is the pond of the ducks, a pond in whose center there is an island with small buildings in which these animals dwell and why those gardens are popularly known as the Patos Park. All over the garden there are numerous sculptures such as the sculptural ensemble in memory of Julio Romero de Torres, the sculpture of the composer Martínez-Rücker and the bust of Mateo Inurria. In the north is the future public library of the state.
• The park of Miraflores: is located on the south bank of the river Guadalquivir. Inaugurated in 2003, it was designed by the architect Juan Cuenca Montilla as a series of terraces that descend from the top to the river. It counts among other points of interest with a sculptural set of Agustín Ibarrola, the Salam and the bridge of Miraflores itself.
• Cruz Conde Park: located southwest of the city is an open park and without barriers to the style of Anglo-Saxon landscape gardens. It has a walking circuit and the Axerquía theater.
• The Cordoba Ride: located on the subterratean tracks of the train is a large walk several kilometers in length with more than 434 000 m2. The walk has numerous sources that supplement the absence of large forest masses that are not possible by the very structure of the surface. The most outstanding are six sources formed by a porch of which water falls as a cataract to a pond with four staggered levels. Next to its west end is a wide area with dozens of climbers that handle the soil itself and which, without any architectural barrier, allows the walkers to walk among them looking for the refreshment of their waters. Integrated on the promenade is preserved a water decanting pond of the Roman period as well as the building of the old Renfe station, now converted into dependencies of Canal Sur.
• Juan Carlos I gardens: located in the neighborhood of Ciudad Jardin, is a fenced enclosure that occupies an area of about 12 500 m2.
• The Conde de Vallellano gardens: located on both sides of the homonymous avenue (now avenue of Flamenco). They host a large number of arbusive and arboreal species such as the alpha, the Jupiter tree, the casuarina, the cedar, the Japan plum, the Jerusalem thorn, the eucalyptus, the fresno, the magnolio, the mimosa, the excelsa palm, the paradise, the sicomoro, the washing and the yucca. On its right side is a large L-shaped pond with capacity for 3000 m3 in whose waters the image of the Government Subdelegation building is reflected. The archaeological remains integrated in these gardens are worth mentioning, including a Roman cistern of the second half of the century.Ia. C.
• The park of the Asomadilla: with 27 hectares is the third urban park in Andalusia. The park recreates a Mediterranean forest with vegetation of such habitat as thorns, grenades, clams, oaks, olive trees, tamarindos, cypresses, olmos, pines, acornoques and algarrobos among others. Inside there is a circuit of land to run about 2050 meters. With its climbs and descents is the toughest circuit to train in Córdoba.
• The Balcony of Guadalquivir: it has 11.5 hectares, it is part of the process of urbanization of the Ribera del Guadalquivir and has elements of great heritage value (Molino de Martos and the hermitage of the Martyrs). They say that the presence of the river Guadalquivir generates a cool climate that, during the warm summer nights in the province, attracts a lot of families in search of a small relief.
• The gardens of Columbus or gardens of the Merced: located in a central area, the flora is numerous with trees such as banana, melisa, orange, palm trees and pine trees; as well as the diversity of bushes among which can be found alphas, rosales or durillo. They built during the Civil War a small mosque for the troops of Africa, the mosque El Morabito.

• Los Sotos de la Albolafia: declared a natural monument by the Junta de Andalucía in 2001, is located on a stretch of the Guadalquivir river between the Roman bridge and the San Rafael bridge, with an extension of 21.36 hectares. They host a wide variety of avifauna (120 species seen) and is an important point of migration for many birds.
• Cordoba's Green Belt: a pedestrian and cyclist route of 20 kilometres in the execution phase, will surround the city in the north. There are already some sections in operation. The performance is the responsibility of the Junta de Andalucía, and is complemented by a plan proposed by the City Council, Green Ring of Cordoba, that will have a series of urban parks.
• Levante Park: still in the execution phase, it will open to the public in its entirety in 2023; it has 15 hectares of surface and 1,069 trees. Part of the plan Ring Green.
• Flamenco Park: planned for 2022, will be located north of the city, next to the residential areas San Rafael de la Albaida and La Arruzafilla and next to the Cabal Park. More than 500 indigenous trees will be planted and will have an area of 10 hectares.
• Canal or Arruzafilla Park: its opening is planned for 2023 and its extension will be 10 hectares. This space is framed within the plan Green Ring and will be located north of the city, between El Tablero and La Arruzafilla, next to the Parque del Flamenco.
• Parque periurbano Los Villares: with 486 hectares and 60 reserved for public use and enjoyment, it is one of the most interesting parks in the province and its objective is to promote recreational use. It was the first peri-urban park declared in Andalusia in 1990.
• Parque periurbano El Patriarca: it will have 60 hectares for citizen use, designed to be able to practice sport and play activities, including the Peroles, which can be done in an area where tables and banks will be enabled. It's part of the initiative Green Ring of Cordoba, City Council proposal.

Administration and politics

Municipal government

Currently the mayor of Córdoba is José María Bellido, from the Popular Party. Bellido succeeded the previous mayor Isabel Ambrosio of the PSOE, who served as mayor from 2015 until June 15, 2019. Bellido, after winning the elections and without an absolute majority, became mayor with the favorable votes of his party as well as the of Citizens, and the abstention of Vox.

Córdoba City Council is structured into different areas: Presidency, Security, Mobility, Equality and Participation; Urban Planning, Housing, Infrastructures and the Environment; Economy, Commerce, Employment and Management; Social; and Cultural Services and Tourism. The town hall holds ordinary plenary sessions once a month, although extraordinary plenary sessions are held frequently, in order to discuss issues and problems that affect the municipality.

City of Cordoba

Territorial organization

Since July 2008, the city has been divided into 10 administrative districts, coordinated by Municipal District Boards, which in turn are subdivided into neighborhoods

District	District	Location
Centre	South
Levante	South
Northwest	Southeast
North-Sierra	Periurbano Este-Campiña
Poniente-Norte	Periurban West-Sierra

Economy

Jewelry industry

The jewelry industry has had a very marked presence in Córdoba since the XVI century. It is at the beginning of that century that the tendency of silversmiths to group together in guilds to defend their interests against the City Council is documented, which culminates with the founding of the Brotherhood of San Eloy in 1503, which was consolidated as the only professional group to this day.. Silversmiths were considered gold and silver artists, who needed knowledge of chemistry, mathematics, and even architecture to carry out their work. The professionalism of the silversmiths of Córdoba led the union to impose strict quality controls on the materials to maintain the reputation of the Cordoba industry, imposing harsh punishments on those professionals who skipped them. Silversmiths had the status of nobles, and enjoyed a good economic and social position.

Currently, the Cordovan jewelry sector is the third largest exporter of jewelry nationwide, behind Madrid and Barcelona, and first in Andalusia. Its annual exports amount to 100 million euros, 60% of the total for Andalusia, bringing together 50% of the exporting companies in the autonomous community. It is made up of more than a thousand small workshops, which employ 15,000 people.

With the aim of promoting and modernizing the sector, creating synergies and creating a safe environment where jewelers could develop their activity, the Parque Joyero was created in 2005. In this complex, 170 companies are established, which give more than 1 000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs, and which represents the largest concentration of companies in the jewelry sector in Europe. In addition, in this center of more than 140,000 m² there is a Jewelry School, which is a national reference in training in the sector.

Hotels and tourism

In a country whose main economic activity is tourism, Córdoba occupies ninth place in the ranking of the most touristic cities in Spain. For the first time, since there are records, the barrier of one million tourists was exceeded with 1,012,580 in 2017, which represents an increase of 2.46% compared to the previous year. During that same year, overnight stays also increased to 1,616,706, 1.68% more than in 2016.

Bank Headquarters CajaSur

Others

• Agriculture: irrigated crops in the vega and secano in the countryside area (olivar, cereals...)
• Other services: linked to its provincial capital and to being a very important regional communications node.

Trade

As in most of the country, small and medium businesses are the ones that have the most representation. Thanks to the good size of the city, it has a wide variety of companies and commercial chains that favor competition and consumers. Despite this, the commercial density is lower than the average in Spain.

Department department stores

• Centro Comercial El Arcángel. Located in the El Arcángel district, it was opened in 1994 and has more than 34 000 m2 spread over two floors, plus other underground parking. It is popularly known as "Eroski", as this company occupied 13 386 m2 on the second floor of the center, of which it was also owner, until in November 2016 it decided to close it after selling its participation in the mall in July, as part of the Eroski disinvestment plan. C fakeA, Toys "R" Us and Primark are some of the tenants that occupy the most surface.
• La Sierra Shopping Center. With a total constructed area of 109 000 m2 spread over five floors, it was built in 1994. In 2016, a profound image change of more than 18 million euros is submitted. It welcomes a large number of shops, the most outstanding of which are Carrefour, Zara and the other shops of the Inditex group, and H luminousm.
• Centro Comercial Ronda de los Tejares, of the chain El Corte Inglés. It is the most central shopping centre in the city, which was opened in 1995 in its current location in Avd. Round of the Tejars, replacing the old Preciated Galleries.
• Zoco Shopping Center. Located on Manolete Avenue. Leaded by Deza.
• Zahira Shopping Center. Located in the Madrid Road and the Eastern Round. Belonging to the company Carrefour.
• Centro Comercial Ronda de Córdoba, of the group El Corte Inglés, which also houses a center of Hipercor on the first floor. Opened in 2012 after an investment of 125 million euros, it is the newest center built in Córdoba. It has an area of 142 000 m2, giving work to more than 3000 employees, of which 800 are direct.

Energy

The transport of high-voltage electricity from the power plants that supply the city's consumption is operated by Red Eléctrica Española. In Córdoba, it has first-class (220 kV) and second-category voltage lines with which they transport energy to the city, and second-category lines with which they distribute energy to the 16 local substations, from which access is given to the company. distributor. Endesa Distribución is the company that distributes energy to the final consumer, through its own network.

The total electricity consumption in the city in 2016 was 1,308,399 MWh, of which 584,294 MWh are residential consumption.

Evolution of outstanding municipal debt

The concept of outstanding debt includes only debts with savings banks and banks related to financial credits, fixed-income securities and loans or credits transferred to third parties, excluding, therefore, commercial debt.

Graphic of the evolution of living debt of the city of Córdoba between 2008 and 2021

Living debt of the City Council, in thousands of euros, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Public Service.

Services

Drinking water

The drinking water supply to Córdoba is carried out by the Municipal Water Company of Córdoba (EMACSA), created in 1969.

The water supplied by EMACSA is dammed in various reservoirs:

• Guadalmellato reservoir: 145 hm3.
• San Rafael de Navallana reservoir: 156,47 hm3.
• Guadanuño reservoir: 1.60 hm3.

The purification of the water is carried out in the drinking water treatment stations (ETAP), where the water is treated so that it becomes suitable for human consumption. The main DWTP is Villa Azul, which is served by the Guadalmellato reservoir, and serves more than 328,000 inhabitants. There are also two more DWTPs: Guadanuño and Trassierra, which supply 5,400 inhabitants.

Wastewater treatment is carried out in wastewater treatment plants (EDAR), where contamination is eliminated from the water so that it can be returned to the environment under adequate conditions. There are three WWTPs: La Golondrina, Cerro Muriano and Santa Cruz.

Waste and cleaning of public roads

Sadeco is the Municipal Sanitation Company of Córdoba. It was created in 1986 with the objectives of the collection of urban waste, treatment and final destination of waste; especially dedicated to recycling and making compost, street cleaning, cleaning of schools and municipal public buildings, health and pests, technical and maintenance services, educational and support services (inspection, prevention and others).

Cemeteries

CECOSAM (Cementerios y Servicios Funerarios Municipales de Córdoba, S.A.), is the company owned by the Córdoba City Council whose objective is to provide various funeral services.

Its facilities are:

• Our Lady of Health Cemetery, the oldest, dating from 1811.
• Cemetery of San Rafael, which came to alleviate the problems of space, inaugurated in 1835.
• Our Lady of the Fuensanta Cemetery, located on the outskirts, much more modern and inaugurated in 1988. Here is the tanatory, crematory and headquarters of the company.
• Santa Cruz Cemetery.

Education

Thanks to its good size, Córdoba has an extensive educational offer among which we find nurseries, primary schools (C.E.I.P.), secondary education institutes (I.E.S.), etc.

In addition, there are various Vocational Training centers and others of a special nature such as Zalima (administrative training center), the Higher School of Dramatic Art, the Arts and Crafts, the Higher Conservatory of Music, the Professional Music Conservatory, the Professional Dance Conservatory or the Cordoba Jewelry School Consortium.

University education

Rectorate of the University

It has two Universities, the University of Córdoba and the Loyola Andalucía University. The UCO is the main university in the city by size. To its academic offer of 43 degrees, 61 master's degrees and doctoral programs, 21,000 students are enrolled. Teaching, research and administrative activity is carried out in the Rector's Office, the former Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and 4 campuses: two urban (Campus of Humanities and Legal and Social Sciences, integrated and distributed throughout the city; Campus of Health Sciences, near the Reina Sofía University Hospital); Campus Rabanales, 6 km east of the city; and Campus de Belmez, in the north of the province, created in 1923. It has more than 1,200 teachers and 700 non-teaching workers.

Loyola Andalucía University is a private Catholic University belonging to the Society of Jesus. It originated in ETEA, the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences attached to the UCO, in 1963. Since then it has undergone various expansions, until in 2011 it became the first private University in Andalusia. It has three Campuses, in Córdoba, Seville and Dos Hermanas.

Health

The city has an extensive healthcare system, both publicly owned (through the Andalusian Health Service, SAS) and privately owned. The regulation of the sector corresponds to the autonomous community, which through the Andalusian Health Law extends free public health coverage to all Spaniards and foreigners, even if they are in an irregular situation in the country. Likewise, it divides health care into primary and hospital care. Primary care is that provided by family doctors, pediatricians and nursing staff in health centers and offices and at home. Hospital care includes assistance provided by specialists both in specialty centers and in hospitals.

The health network in Córdoba is made up of four public hospitals and three private hospitals; several specialty centers, 14 health centers and 9 clinics in peripheral districts. In addition, we can find more than 1,400 healthcare establishments of various types, such as pharmacies (191), opticians (90), dental clinics (198), assisted reproduction centers (3), dialysis centers, orthopedics, etc. The city also has a Regional Blood Transfusion Center (for blood, plasma and bone marrow) and a Sectoral Tissue Bank.

Public primary care

Public primary care in Andalusia is organized into 17 Primary Care Districts, which serve one or more municipalities. In Córdoba, the Córdoba Primary Care District is in charge of the management and administration of health care activities, health promotion and disease prevention, care for health recovery, and surveillance of environmental and food risks; in the town.

It is made up of thirteen health centers, located in the urban core of the city; and by nine health clinics and an auxiliary clinic, located in the peripheral neighborhoods.

Hospital care

The Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía hospital complex, operated by the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), is the main hospital in the city. With a regional category (the highest), this public center covers all the specialties offered by the National Health System. It has more than 1,450 beds, 204 outpatient clinics, 32 operating rooms, 36 emergency rooms, 8 delivery rooms, and fully equipped facilities. It is made up of different centers:

The San Juan de Dios Hospital, in a private charitable center founded in 1935, owned by the San Juan de Dios Hospital Order, after reforms in the 1990s and in 2013 it has been modernized to take on the status of a general hospital. It covers more than 35 specialties, has 133 beds, ICU, 24-hour emergencies (general, pediatric and gynecological), 8 operating rooms, two delivery rooms, laboratory services and clinical analysis, among others. In 2016, it treated 54,000 patients, with a growth of 12% compared to the previous year, and 23.55% compared to 2012.

The Red Cross Hospital in Córdoba is another private charity center founded in 1933, owned by the Spanish Red Cross. The SEP certification has been recognized, which certifies that it is a center of excellence.

Quirónsalud Córdoba is currently the main private hospital in Córdoba. Its inauguration took place on September 3, 2018, almost two years since its construction began in November 2016 and after an investment of more than 55 million euros. Owned by the Quirón group, it is housed in a 25,000 m² building with unique architecture, conceived from the outset to be energy efficient.

It has 100 individual rooms, 7 operating rooms, ICU and neonatal ICU, vascular and hemodynamic radiology room, endoscopy rooms, delivery rooms, comprehensive laboratory, day hospital (surgical, medical and oncohematological) and 24-hour emergency rooms (for adults, pediatric and obstetrics).

This hospital has an initial staff of 300 people, which is expected to increase to 500 professionals in the third year. The hospital's portfolio of services includes all medical specialties, including nuclear medicine, which until now was not covered by private healthcare in the city.

Social Services

The basic function of Social Services is to guide and collaborate with the population in the face of any type of problematic situation in which they may find themselves, no matter how limited it may be. Applying the principles of solidarity, inclusion, respect for diversity, multiculturalism and promotion of human development, the Municipal Social Services (SSM) provide different resources for the population: orientation in the face of problems, information on resources or, also, economic aid.

For the collectives, the SSM are committed to advising for the creation and operation of groups that intervene in the resolution of some social problem or subsidies for projects of social interest.

Each intervention of the Municipal Social Services has several types of beneficiaries. In the first place would be the direct beneficiaries, who would be the main recipients of our intervention. In addition to these, when a person overcomes a problematic situation, his immediate environment is also favored and, finally, the entire population advances socially by eliminating the effects and, where appropriate, the causes of different social problems.

The work of social inclusion, in addition to being beneficial for the people who participate in the programs and activities, is profitable for society as a whole, since in the economically less favored sectors and in the new neighbors of multicultural origin there is a enormous productive potential that can be made profitable. The challenge is to mobilize these capabilities and apply them productively.

The municipal social services of the Córdoba city council comprise a series of blocks:

• A central, administrative and direction block.
• A deconcentrated block of social work areas, 9 in total.
• A block of services for the elderly, from which the home care service and the system of autonomy and care for dependency (SAAD) are coordinated. This section includes the municipal residence for the elderly Guadalquivir. In addition to these main blocks, the Casa de Acogida y Emergency Social Municipal is available as a resource for homeless people and those in a social emergency situation.

The municipality has a specialized staff, which is basically made up of social workers, community educators, administrative and administrative assistants, orderlies and clinic assistants, along with several general administration technicians and medium-level technicians, or geriatricians, psychologists or sociologists. Regarding the facilities, the Social Work Zones (ZTS) have community social service centers (CSSC), which are located in the network of municipal civic centers or in buildings for specific use. For their part, the Day Centers are distributed in their own network of municipal centers for the elderly.

Transportation

Motorways and dual carriageways

Córdoba is in a good geographical position, which places it as a logistical hub of the State Highway Network that connects western Andalusia and Malaga with highways to central and northern Spain; and by highway Córdoba with the north of its province, Ciudad Real, Toledo and north of Extremadura. Its routes are divided into highways and highways, there being no highway or tolls:

• La Autovía del Sur E-5 A-4, inaugurated in 1992, unites to the north the 296 km that separate Cordoba and Madrid with a trace of 401 km, which makes it possible to move between these two cities in less than four hours; and to the southwest allows the connection with Seville on a journey of 145 km passing through Écija, and with Cadiz and Jerez in 265 km and 235 km, respectively. This highway crosses the municipal border between pK 382 and 424.
• La Autovía de Málaga A-45, opened in 2009, unites Córdoba with Malaga and other towns in the south of the province of Córdoba with a length of 163 km.
• National road N-432 N-432which unites Badajoz and Granada passes through Cordoba, with a distance of 264 km to Badajoz and 204 km to Granada.
• National road N-331 N-331, which unites Cordoba with Malaga in a plot that runs parallel to the A-45 motorway. After the operation of the A-45 has been relegated to connection between adjacent properties of the south of the province and crossing the towns through which it runs.

There are also roads of the Andalusian Highway Network, which only pass through that community and are not included in the State Highway Network because they are managed by the Junta de Andalucía.

• A-431: Autovía Córdoba - Villarrubia: Córdoba - Villarrubia
• CO-30: Ronda de Circunvalación de Córdoba that comprises:
  • South round of Cordoba A-4.
  • Ronda este de Córdoba CO-31.
  • West Round of Cordoba A-3050.
  • Ronda Norte de Córdoba (in construction).

• CO-32: Variant west of Córdoba

Mobile fleet

There are 211,803 registered cars, which means an index of 65 per 100 inhabitants. This places the city above other larger ones such as Madrid, Barcelona or Zaragoza, whose rates are 60, 55 and 52 vehicles respectively per 100 inhabitants.

Of these, 68% (144,674) are passenger cars, with an average age of less than 10 years. Motorcycles account for 11% (23,746) while mopeds account for 7.97% (16,888), which gives a rate of 5 mopeds per 100 inhabitants, compared to a national average of 1 per 100. Trucks and Vans, with 11,000 and 13,000 units respectively, complete the list, the latter being the ones with the longest average age (12 years) of the entire Cordoba fleet.

Intercity buses

The building of the current bus station in Córdoba is the work of the architect César Portela and was awarded the National Architecture Prize in 1999. The emblematic building preserves archaeological remains of notable interest, mainly of Roman origin and various sculptures by Agustín Ibarrola and Sergio Portela. The companies Carrera, Alsa, Rafael Ramírez, Secorbús, Socibús, Autotransportes López, Unionbús and Linesur currently operate with many regional and national destinations.

Railway

Passenger terminal of the railway station of Córdoba

The conventional railway line that connects Madrid with the south of the peninsula reaches Córdoba, having in the city the separation of the line that leads to Málaga and Algeciras. The other line continues towards Cádiz, where it passes through Seville and there branches off to Huelva. The AVE line also reaches Córdoba, branching off towards Seville or towards Málaga and Granada. Both the passenger station and the freight station are reference stations in the south of the peninsula due to their high traffic and their great connectivity with the rest of the country.

In addition, there is a special service for transporting passengers from the station to the Rabanales university campus.

Since 2009, there is the El Higuerón Intermodal Transport Center (Córdoba Logistics Park), thanks to which the transport sector, as well as its strategic position, have been significantly strengthened. In a short period of time, the direct rail connection is planned, allowing full rail-road intermodality.

Until the 1980s, the city had a railway connection with the localities of the Guadiato Valley region through the Córdoba-Almorchón line (currently partly abandoned and used solely for the transport of coal to the Puente Nuevo thermal power plant).

In September 2018, the first Cercanías Line was launched, which runs between the peripheral neighborhoods of Villarrubia de Córdoba and Alcolea, passing through the city center and with a frequency of 39 weekly trains.

Air transportation

Córdoba Airport (IATA code: ODB, ICAO code: LEBA) is a Spanish Aena airport located in the city of Córdoba and is classified as third category. Their codes are ODB and LEBA, in the IATA and ICAO nomenclatures respectively.

For aeronautical purposes, it is an aerodrome open to national and international traffic from signatory countries of the Schengen Agreement, in which the AFIS service (Aerodrome Flight Information Service) is provided. Its Operating Hours are from 09:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m. and are divided into two slots, depending on the type of flight. For Commercial Flights, it has the so-called Public Use Hours, which coincides with the AFIS Service Hours, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, although extension may be requested. Commercial flights could not operate during the rest of the schedule, called the Restricted Use Schedule, unless an extension is requested. For the most part, it is used by agricultural treatment companies, organ transfers to and from the transplant center to the Reina Sofía hospital, military flights, passenger charter flights, aerial photography, piloting courses, skydiving schools and other aerial work.

The airport has two runways, RWY03 measuring 2,076 m by 45 m, and RWY21 measuring 2,241 m by 45 m and a platform of approximately 43,000 m². The passenger terminal is located on the ground floor of the main building and includes the departure and arrival areas, cafeteria, services and administration offices. The airport also has a service building and a general aviation area, which has hangars, warehouses and offices.

Urban public transport

AUCORSA Bus

City buses have been managed by the municipal company AUCORSA (Autobuses Urbanos de Córdoba S.A.) since its constitution in 1953. It has 135 vehicles that provide services on 14 urban lines that connect the different areas of the city, 2 lines from the historic center, various special services (Services for Fairs, Easter Week, football, etc.) and 6 peripheral lines that connect the main nucleus with the different districts.

Bike lane

Bicycle lane on the AVE's soterratean tracks

The first sections of the bike lane in Córdoba began to be built in 1995 and 1996. At the beginning of 2007, Córdoba had just over 35 km of bike lanes, including two-way sections multiplied by two.

In addition, the city council, with the Cyclocity service, has four collection and deposit points that have 35 eco-bikes that can be used by anyone, previously having to request a free access card that allows the withdrawal of the same.

1.33% of the population commutes by bicycle daily and 17.34% sporadically, in contrast to 81.33% who never use it.

Culture

Woman of CordobaJulio Romero de Torres.

Libraries

The city of Córdoba has an extensive network of public libraries.

Dependent directly to the city council is the Municipal Library Network of Córdoba, made up of a Central Library and a network of 11 branch libraries spread throughout the municipal area that provide coverage to a large percentage of the population.

The Central Library of Córdoba, is located in Ronda del Marrubial, it has a large area and sections for information and reference, newspaper library, knowledge, local collection, biographies, literary works, art, music, cinema, computer science, comic and children's room.

The Provincial Library of Córdoba is a Public Library of the State that arose from the funds belonging to the convents, monasteries and churches that were being disentailed between the years 1835 and 1837, it has a collection of around 180,000 documents including books, magazines, sound recordings, video recordings and other types of documents. Its important ancient collection stands out, with 78 incunabula and 647 manuscripts, apart from an excellent collection of books from the XVI century. In total, it has more than 13,000 works prior to 1900. In addition to this, the Ministry of Culture is building a second State Public Library on Avenida de América, popularly known as "de los Patos", due to the park that has around. With a budget that has risen to 10 million, it is expected to end after a period of two years after the recovery of the works at the beginning of 2019.

Apart from the municipal and provincial libraries, there are university libraries in the city in the different faculties of the city and various thematic libraries dependent on the Provincial Council or the Diocese of Córdoba. The so-called Living Library of Al-Ándalus, Located in the Bailío palace, it has the most important bibliographic collection related to Andalusian culture. This library, owned by the Roger Garaudy Foundation, arises with the aim of disseminating the importance of classical Andalusian culture and its contributions to universal culture. Likewise, the University of Córdoba has scientific libraries in the different faculties in which It has a large number of specialized references such as more than 170,000 books, 4,076 scientific journals, theses read at the University, electronic resources, etc.

The Historical Archive of Viana located in the Viana Palace is an important noble archive that keeps more than 300,000 documents on the Spanish nobility. In addition to the information related to noble titles, it keeps 877 wills and estates from the XIII century, 868 parchments that refer to the Spanish monarchy since the Middle Ages and 39 lead seals referring to kings of Spain and popes, among others.

Museums, theaters and other cultural buildings

Julio Romero Museum of Torres

Gran Teatro de Córdoba

• The Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Cordoba is one of the most complete in Spain, with pieces ranging from Prehistory to the Middle Ages. Under the palace of the Páez de Castillejo, where the museum is located, are the remains of the Roman theatre, the largest of the Roman Hispania and one of the largest of the Roman Empire.
• The Julio Romero de Torres Museum is the largest collection of the work of this famous Cordoba painter. Located in the painter's home, it contains paintings as representative as The spicy little girl, Long live hair or Oranges and lemons.
• The Provincial Museum of Fine Arts, located in the former Hospital of Charity, houses an important collection of paintings and sculpture from most of the fallouts of 1835 and 1868.
• The Diocesan Museum of Fine Arts located in the old Episcopal Palace and in front of the Mosque. It contains paintings, tapestries and sculptures covering periods from the Middle Ages to the present day.
• The Al-Andalus Living Museum, also called the Museum of the Three Cultures, located in the tower of the Calahorra. It is an audiovisual museum about coexistence in the Middle Ages of Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures.
• The Caliphal Baths, built by Alhakén II and which were the most important in the city, are home to a museum where you can see the different rooms that made up the traditional Arab baths.
• The Taurino Museum, which contains pieces of the great bullfighters of Cordoba.
• The House of Sefarad, located in the heart of the Jewish quarter and opposite the synagogue, is a museum about Sephardic culture, history and tradition.
• La Casa Andalusí, typical Moorish house of the centuryXII, contains collections of old coins and a model of the first machines to manufacture paper arriving in the West.
• The Water Museum, located in the mill of Martos, shows the history of water uses in mills of this type for the manufacture of cereal flour and fabrics and skins.
• The Museum of the Palace of Viana, which houses Flemish tapestry, gobels and goyescos; Brueghel school oils; a collection of guadamecils and cordobanes; a gallery of battle paintings and a library of 7000 volumes among others.
• The Carbonell Oil Museum dedicated to the history and manufacture of oil.
• The Gran Teatro de Córdoba is an Italian theatre, with a horseshoe-shaped room, and with a capacity of 1000 real localities distributed in a courtyard of armchairs, plates, palco, amphitheater and paradise.
• The Góngora Theatre is a theatre built between 1929 and 1932. It is one of the few remains left in Cordoba of architectural rationalism. In 1997 it was closed by bad state, in 2004 it was acquired by the City Council of Córdoba and has restored it El Corte Inglés. It has a capacity for 1050 people.
• The Axerquía Theatre is located outdoors with a capacity of 3500 people.
• La Filmoteca de Andalucía, located in the former hospital of San Sebastián, dedicated to the conservation, study and dissemination of the cinematographic heritage of Andalusia.
• La Casa Góngora, house of the centuryXVII converted into a museum and study center of the work of Luis de Góngora.
• The CajaSur Exhibition Room.
• The Cordoba Zoo, open to the public in 1967, which has more than 102 species and an area of 4.5 hectares.
• The Museo del Guadamecí Omeya is an exhibition of omeya guadamecíes, artistic manifestations in leather that emerged in the city in the centuryX during the caliphate.
• The Royal Botanic Garden of Cordoba, located on the shores of Guadalquivir, includes the Museum of Ethnobotany and the Museum of Paleobotánica, which contains an exhibition of plant fossils of all geological ages, unique in Europe.
• The Visitors’ Reception Centre in Córdoba. Located in the surroundings of the bridge gate. Place where a general vision will be made towards what visitors will see in the City. It has an exhibition on the history of the city and the river.
• The Center for Contemporary Creation of Córdoba or C3A, which is a building of 12 207 square meters built on the peninsula of Miraflores. It was finished in 2015 and opened on December 19, 2016.
• Pepe Espaliú Art Center.

Gastronomy

Salmon Cordobes, typical dish made from tomato, garlic, bread crumb, oil, vinegar and salt

Given the strategic situation of the city of Córdoba, Cordoba gastronomy is mainly nourished by products from the countryside and its fertile plain, as well as from the Sierra, where its cattle herd comes from, as well as from the southern part, from its olive oil. The combination of all these ingredients, all of them of the highest quality, make Cordovan cuisine a cuisine of stews and stews.

On the other hand, there are signs of Muslim influence in Cordoba gastronomy such as the use of spices (oregano, mint, tarragon), or the use of foods introduced by the Arabs, such as rice, spinach, eggplant, or the bitter orange

As typical dishes of Cordoba gastronomy we can highlight the salmorejo, the flamenquines, the oxtail, the lamb with honey, the chopped oranges or the artichokes a la montillana and as a most typical dessert we can highlight the Cordovan cake, it consists of in a puff pastry stuffed with candied citron called cabello de ángel.

Crafts

Cordoba hat

Jewelry

Cordoba has had an important goldsmith tradition since ancient times, dating back to Roman times. Currently, the jewelry sector in Córdoba continues to be very important with more than a thousand companies that account for 20% of the industrial sector in the province. The Parque Joyero de Córdoba has 148 factories and 202 commercial premises, being the largest jewelry factory in the world.

Leather

Córdoba is famous for its tanning and for all kinds of leather crafts, checkered horse saddles, folding screens or small furniture, perhaps the most typical product being cordobán. Guadamecíes also stand out, brought by the Arabs in the VIII and whose productions enjoyed European fame at least since the XI. Currently there are few artisans who dedicate themselves to it, as is the case with the rest of the artisan products.

Literary scene

The city of Córdoba has been the setting for numerous novels:

Parties

Carnival

The Carnival of Córdoba is consolidated year after year as a very popular party, which reaches more people every year.^{[citation required]} It begins with the traditional Gala of the Sultán y la Sultana, which takes place on the Bulevar del Gran Capitán in front of the Gran Teatro. Months before, the comparsas practice for the Groups Contest that takes place in the Gran Teatro, where they will carry out a battle of coplas or chirigotas in those that mock and ridicule in the form of humorous criticism of current social issues. After the Grand Final, the street party begins with the proclamation.^{[citation required]}

Holy Week

It is a religious and cultural festivity in which for a week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, the brotherhoods go through the streets of Córdoba remembering some of the scenes of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus or the that it is the same to remember her last days, accompanied by Nazarenes, and penitents. The brotherhoods are mostly accompanied by musical bands, but there are brotherhoods of silence. This festivity is celebrated in the months of March and April. Easter is the Sunday immediately after the first full Moon after the spring equinox, and must be calculated using the astronomical full Moon. So it can be as early as March 22, or as late as April 25.

At this moment, Córdoba has a total of 6 pro-brotherhoods that procession on the eve of Holy Week between Passion Thursday and Passion Saturday and 38 Brotherhoods that from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday head towards the Carrera Official located in the surroundings of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, beginning at the Puerta del Puente located in the Plaza del Triunfo and continuing along Torrijos street, Cardenal Herrero street, Patio de los Naranjos, interior of the cathedral, Plaza de Santa Catalina and Magistral González Francés street. The areas most traveled by the brotherhoods are San Fernando street (or Feria street), La Ribera and San Pedro.

Cordoban May

Cruz de Mayo in the Plaza del Cardenal Toledo

Portada de la Feria de Nuestra Señora de la Salud, en el año 2011

May is the big month of Córdoba. During this month the main festivals of Córdoba are celebrated and for which it is widely known.

Battle of the Flowers

Battle of the Flowers 2016

The Battle of the Flowers is a procession of floats in which the people inside, dressed in typical costumes such as gypsy or flamenco costumes, throw flowers, usually carnations, to the public, which in turn throws them at them. bring back. This festivity takes place on May 1 around twelve noon and is considered the opening of the month of Cordoba, which is May.

May Crosses

At the beginning of May, the Cruces de Mayo are celebrated, a festival in which crosses of about three meters tall are placed in the main streets and squares of Córdoba, fully decorated with flowers and surrounded by beautiful plants in pots and a traditional decoration that reflects the characters in the area, normally in the center of every cross. The visit of these beautiful crosses is usually accompanied by a bar where you can consume drinks and typical food from the land.

The Tasting

Also from the second week onwards, the festival of La Cata is celebrated. All Cordoba wineries meet at the Mayo de Córdoba to offer us their best wines. The wines of the Montilla-Moriles Denomination of Origin are the stars of this Cordoba festival. The Fino wine, the Amontillado, the Oloroso, the Cream, the Pedro Ximénez, the Young White and the Pedro Ximénez white are the different varieties that can be tasted in the tasting.

Festival of the Patios Cordoba

During the second and third week of May, the Patios Cordobeses Festival is celebrated, declared in 1980 a Festival of National Tourist Interest and later Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since December 6, 2012. During this festival the participants open, free of charge, their patios so that they can be visited within the hours established for this purpose. They fall into two categories: ancient architecture and modern architecture. At the same time, the Bars and Balconies Contest is also held. It should be noted that due to the popularity of Cordovan patios, they are also open at special times such as Christmas and from April to June; at the same time there are patios that allow tourists to stay inside. On the other hand, a festival takes place in San Basilio.

The origin takes place in antiquity, in civilizations of the Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek or Roman culture. The houses of these civilizations were distributed around a central patio. Thus, both the language and the culture and this distribution, in addition to architecture in general, were brought to the West, thus reaching Córdoba among other places on the peninsula. Therefore, the Cordovan patio comes from the Roman houses.

Córdoba Fair

At the end of May (the last whole week of May) the Fair of Nuestra Señora de la Salud is celebrated, with the best days being lighting Friday, Children's Day Wednesday, and the weekend.

Corpus Christi

The festivity of Corpus Christi is celebrated on Sunday, 63 days after the Resurrection of the Lord. In the afternoon, the Monstrance from the XVI century, carved by Enrique de Arfe, goes in procession. Along its route around the Cathedral, slender altars are set up and rosemary is scattered on the ground.

Fuensanta Fair

The Fuensanta Fair, also called Velá de la Fuensanta, are folkloric festivities held around September 8 in honor of the Virgen de la Fuensanta, the Co-Patroness of the City, in the surroundings of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta.

On September 7, the eve of her festivity, the image of Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta goes in a procession that leaves the Cathedral of Córdoba (previously moved there) to the Sanctuary of the Virgin located in the neighborhood of the same name.

Saint Raphael's Day

See also: History of the devotion to San Rafael in Córdoba and San Rafael in Córdoba.

The day of the Custodian San Rafael Arcángel is celebrated on October 24 with a visit to the Basilica of the Oath of San Rafael and with pots in the nearby mountains.

San Rafael only goes in procession exceptionally. The last two occasions that the image of the Archangel was in procession was in 2012, on the occasion of the Year of Faith. On October 20 it left its Basilica for the Cathedral and later, on October 24, its feast day, to the reverse. In June 2019, he headed towards the Cathedral, leaving from the Parish of San Andrés, together with the images of the Virgen de los Dolores Coronada and the Sacred Heart of Jesus of San Hipólito on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Brotherhoods for the Jubilee Year of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Córdoba.

Festivals and cultural events

• Medieval market (January): In the surroundings of the tower of the Calahorra.
• Photography Biennial from 6 March to 5 May.
• Cosmopoetics (international meeting between poets and musicians).
• Blues City Festival of Cordoba (May).
• The White Night of Flamenco in Córdoba (June).
• International Guitar Festival (July).
• African Film Festival in Córdoba.
• Eutopia Festival: Festival of Youth Creation, organized by the Andalusian Youth Institute, in which artistic expressions of all kinds occur: from music to theatre through literature and even cooking (september).
• Animacor: International festival of animation (November).
• Living room: Acontecimiento that takes place in IFECO where musicians, tellers, embroideries among other characters of Holy Week. There are also exhibitions of hermandades and their villages.
• Kalendas in Cordvba (programme promoted from the City of Cordoba through the Municipal Institute of Tourism of Córdoba IMTUR, which aims to value art, culture, heritage and Roman society).
• FLORA Festival Internacional de las Flores de Córdoba.

Sports

Municipal Sports Facilities Fontanar

Sports facilities

The city has the following sports facilities:

Sports events

Here are some of the sporting events that have been held in Córdoba.

Sports entities

The city has the following sports entities:

Media

Radio

Television

Twin cities

The city of Córdoba participates in the city twinning initiative promoted, among other institutions, by the European Union.

The sister cities with Córdoba are:

Notable people