Córdoba, Spain

Reconstruction of the Roman temple of Córdoba.

The first traces of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 42,000 to 35,000 BC.[14] Pre-urban settlements around the mouth of the Guadalquivir river are known to have existed from the 8th century BC. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy. The first historical mention of a settlement dates to the Carthaginian expansion across the Guadalquivir. Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 BC.

In 169 BC, Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus (grandson of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who had governed both Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Citerior, respectively), founded a Latin colony alongside the pre-existing Iberian settlement.[15] The date is contested; it could have been founded in 152 BC. Between 143 and 141 BC the town was besieged by Viriatus. A Roman forum is known to have existed in the city in 113 BC.[16] The famous Cordoba Treasure, with mixed local and Roman artistic traditions, was buried in the city at this time; it is now in the British Museum.[17]

Corduba became a Roman colonia with the name Colonia Patricia,[18] between 46 and 45 BC. It was sacked by Caesar in 45 because of its fealty to Pompey, and resettled with veteran soldiers by Augustus. It became the capital of Baetica, with a forum and numerous temples, and was the main center of Roman intellectual life in Hispania Ulterior.[19][15] The Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, his father, the orator Seneca the Elder, and his nephew, the poet Lucan came from Roman Córdoba.[20]

In the late Roman period, Corduba's bishop Hosius (Ossius) was the dominant figure of the western Church throughout the earlier 4th century.[15] Later, Corduba occupied an important place in the Provincia Hispaniae of the Byzantine Empire (552–572) and under the Visigoths, who conquered it in the late 6th century.[21][22]

Córdoba was captured by the Muslims in 711 or 712.[23] Unlike other Iberian towns, no capitulation was signed and the position was taken by storm. Córdoba was in turn governed by direct Arab rule. The new Umayyad commanders established themselves within the city and in 716 it became the provincial capital,[23] subordinate to the Caliphate of Damascus, replacing Seville. In Arabic it was known as قرطبة (Qurṭuba).

The center of the Roman and Visigothic cities became the walled medina. Over time, as many as 21 suburbs (رَبَض rabaḍ, pl. أَرْبَاض arbāḍ) developed around the city.[24]

In 747, a battle in the surroundings of Córdoba, the Battle of Saqunda, took place, pitting Arab Yemenites against northerner Qays.[25]^: 8

Following the Abbasid ousting of the Umayyad Caliphate after 750, surviving Umayyad figure Abd ar-Rahman crossed to the Iberian Peninsula in 756. He proclaimed himself emir, known as Abd ar-Rahman I, and established his dynasty in Córdoba once the rump wāli Yusuf was defeated at a battle outside the city in May 756.[26][27] In 785–786 (169 AH) he ordered construction of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which was completed the next year and underwent later expansions under his successors.[28][29]

Mihrab of the Mosque.

Historians' estimations of Córdoba's population during the ninth century range from 75,000 to 160,000.[30][31] The ruthless repression of the 818 revolt in the southern suburb of Córdoba led to the destruction of the place.[32] In the 10th and 11th centuries Córdoba was one of the most advanced cities in the world, and a great cultural, political, financial and economic centre.[33][34][35]

Dirham emitted by Abd al-Rahman III, coined in Medina Azahara (10th century).

Córdoba had a prosperous economy, with manufactured goods including leather, metal work, glazed tiles and textiles, and agricultural produce including a range of fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, and materials such as cotton, flax and silk.[36] It was also famous as a centre of learning, home to over 80 libraries and institutions of learning,[33][37] with knowledge of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, botany far exceeding the rest of Europe at the time.[36] Later, the vizier al-Mansur – the de facto ruler of al-Andalus from 976 to 1002 – burned most of the books on philosophy from the library of Caliph al-Hakam II to appease Maliki jurists (ulama); most of the others were sold off or perished in the civil strife not long after.[38][39]

After a period of weak central rule, Abd ar-Rahman III came to power as emir in 912 and campaigned lengthily and systematically to re-establish the authority of Córdoba across Al-Andalus. In 929, after years of military and diplomatic efforts, he felt confident enough to declare himself "caliph", a title challenging the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad and the Fatimid caliphs in North Africa. This inaugurated the height of Córdoba's power and influence in the 10th century.[40][41] This century saw the construction of two palatine cities in the surroundings of Córdoba: Madīnat al-Zahrā to the west, built by Abd ar-Rahman III, and another one built later by al-Mansur (Medina Alzahira) to the east.[42] The economic historian J. Bradford DeLong estimates the city's population at 400,000 around 1000 AD,[10] while estimates from other historians range from 100,000 to 1,000,000 during the same era.[43] Whatever Córdoba's population was, the city's apogee came to an abrupt halt after the 1009 crisis.[44]

On 15 February 1009, with Hisham II as caliph and Sanchuelo as hajib (and de facto ruler), a revolution broke out in Córdoba, which led to the proclamation of an alternative caliph.[45] This marked the beginning of a long period of civil war and conflict in Al-Andalus known as the Fitna. Berbers entered and sacked Córdoba in May 1013.[46] Hisham III was routed from Córdoba on 30 November 1031 and an oligarchic republic replaced the caliphate.[47][48]

Under rule of the Banu Yahwar, Cordobese power did not extend far from the city, as other independent polities emerged in the rest of the former caliphate.[44][49] An estimation of 65,000 inhabitants has been proposed for 11th-century Córdoba.[50]

In 1070, forces from the Abbadid Taifa of Seville entered Córdoba to help in the defence of the city, that had been besieged by Al-Mamun, ruler of Toledo, yet they took control and expelled the last ruler of the taifa of Córdoba, Abd-Al Malik, forcing him to exile.[51] Al-Mamun did not cease in his efforts to take the city, and making use of a Sevillian renegade who murdered the Abbadid governor, he triumphantly entered the city on 15 February 1075, only to die there barely five months later, apparently poisoned.[52]^: 40 Córdoba was seized by force in March 1091 by the Almoravids.[53] In 1121, the population revolted against the abuses of the Almoravid governor.[54]

Sworn enemies of the Almohads, Ibn Mardanīš (the "Wolf King") and his stepfather Ibrahim Ibn Hamusk allied with Alfonso VIII of Castile and laid siege on Córdoba by 1158–1160, ravaging the surroundings but failing to take the place.[55]

Almohad caliph Abdallah al-Adil reshuffled governor Al-Bayyasi (brother of Zayd Abu Zayd, governor of Valencia) from Seville to Córdoba in 1224, only to see the latter became independent from Caliphal rule.[56][57] Al-Bayyasi asked Ferdinand III of Castile for help and Córdoba revolted against him.[58] Years later, in 1229, the city submitted to the authority of Ibn Hud,[59] disavowing him in 1233, joining instead the territories under Muhammad Ibn al-Aḥmar,[60] ruler of Arjona and soon-to-be emir of Granada.

Ferdinand III entered the city on 29 June 1236, following a siege of several months. According to Arab sources, Córdoba fell on 23 Shawwal 633 (that is, on 30 June 1236, a day later than Christian tradition).[61] Upon the city's conquest the mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Santa Maria).[62][63] This was also followed by the return to Santiago de Compostela of the church bells that had been looted by Almanzor and moved to Córdoba by Christian war prisoners in the late 10th century.[64] Ferdinand III granted the city a fuero in 1241;[65] it was based on the Liber Iudiciorum and in the customs of Toledo, yet formulated in an original way.[66] The city was divided into 14 colaciones, and numerous new church buildings were added.

• 
  Panoramics of Córdoba as drawn by Anton van den Wyngaerde in 1567

In the context of the Early Modern Period, the city experienced a golden age between 1530 and 1580, profiting from an economic activity based on the trade of agricultural products and the preparation of clothes originally from Los Pedroches, peaking at a population of about 50,000 by 1571.[67] A period of stagnation and ensuing decline followed.[67]

People in front of an inn in Córdoba (1910).

It was reduced to 20,000 inhabitants in the 18th century.[68] The population and economy started to increase again only in the early 20th century. The second half of the 19th century saw the arrival of railway transport via the opening of the Seville–Córdoba line on 2 June 1859.[69]

Córdoba was connected by railway to Jerez and Cádiz in 1861 and, in 1866, following the link with Manzanares, with Madrid.[70] The city was eventually connected to Málaga and Belmez.[71]

On 18 July 1936, the military governor of the province, Colonel Ciriaco Cascajo, launched the Nationalist coup in the city, bombing the civil government and arresting the civil governor, Rodríguez de León;[72] these actions ignited the Spanish Civil War. Following the orders of the putschist General Queipo de Llano, he declared a state of war. The putschists were met by the resistance of the political and social representatives who had gathered in the civil government headquarters,[73] and remained there until the Nationalist rifle fire and the presence of artillery broke their morale. When its defenders began fleeing the building, Rodríguez de León finally decided to surrender and was arrested.[74]

In the following weeks, Queipo de Llano and Major Bruno Ibañez carried out a bloody repression in which 2,000 persons were executed.[75][76][77] The ensuing Francoist repression in wartime and in the immediate post-war period (1936–1951) is estimated to have led to around 9,579 killings in the province.[78]

The Mosque-Cathedral was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and in 1994 this status was extended to the entire historic centre of Córdoba.[79] The city has a number of modern areas, including the district of Zoco and the area surrounding the railway station.

The regional government (the Junta de Andalucía) has for some time been studying the creation of a Córdoba Metropolitan Area that would comprise, in addition to the capital itself, the towns of Villafranca de Córdoba, Obejo, La Carlota, Villaharta, Villaviciosa, Almodóvar del Río and Guadalcázar. The combined population of such an area would be around 351,000.

View of Córdoba from the Sierra foothills.

Córdoba is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in the depression formed by the Guadalquivir river, that cuts across the city in an east-north east to west-south west direction. The wider municipality extends across an area of 1,254.25 km²,[80] making it the largest municipality in Andalusia and the fourth largest in Spain.[81]

The city of Córdoba lies in the middle course of the river. Three major landscape units in the municipality include the Sierra (as in the southern reaches of Sierra Morena), the Valley proper and the Campiña.[82]

The differences in elevation in the Valley are very small, ranging from 100 and 170 metres above sea level,[82] with the city proper located at an average altitude of roughly 125 metres above sea level.[83] The landscape of the valley is further subdivided in the piedmont connecting with the Sierra, the fluvial terraces and the most immediate vicinity of the river course.[82]

The Miocene Campiña, located in the southern bank of the Guadalquivir, features a hilly landscape gently increasing in height up to about 200 m.[83] In the Sierra, to the north of the city, the altitude increases relatively abruptly up to 500 meters.[83] Both the Sierra and the Campiña display viewpoints over the valley.[82]

Green fields in Córdoba after December rains.

Córdoba has a hot Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa).[84] It has the highest summer average daily temperatures in Spain and Europe (with highs averaging 36.9 °C (98 °F) in July) and days with temperatures over 40 °C (104 °F) are common in the summer months. August's 24-hour average of 28.0 °C (82 °F) is also one of the highest in Europe, despite relatively cool nightly temperatures.[85]

Winters are mild, yet cooler than other low lying cities in southern Spain due to its interior location, wedged between the Sierra Morena and the Penibaetic System. Precipitation is concentrated in the coldest months; this is due to the dry summer climate pattern featured in large parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Precipitation is generated by storms from the west that occur most frequently from December to February. This Atlantic characteristic then gives way to a hot summer with significant drought more typical of Mediterranean climates. Annual rain surpasses 600 mm (24 in), although it is recognized to vary from year to year.

The registered maximum temperature at the Córdoba Airport, located at 6 kilometres (4 miles) from the city, was 46.9 °C (116.4 °F) on 13 July 2017 and 14 August 2021.[86] The lowest registered temperature was −8.2 °C (17.2 °F), on 28 January 2005.[87]

Roman Mausoleum in the Paseo de la Victoria.

The Roman Bridge, over the Guadalquivir River, links the area of Campo de la Verdad with Barrio de la Catedral. It was the only bridge of the city for twenty centuries, until the construction of the San Rafael Bridge in the mid-20th century. It was initially built in the early 1st century BC during the reign of emperor Augustus but significantly rebuilt in the 8th century under Umayyad rule. It has a length of about 250 m and has 16 arches.[88]

Other Roman remains include the Roman Temple, the Theatre, Mausoleum, the Colonial Forum, the Forum Adiectum, an amphitheater and the remains of the Palace of Emperor Maximian in the archaeological site of Cercadilla.

From 784- 786 AD, Abd al-Rahman I built the Great Mosque of Córdoba, one of the most famous monuments of Western Islamic (Moorish) architecture.[89][90][91] It integrated aspects of Islamic architecture with some indigenous elements of Roman and Visigothic architecture.[63] Later Umayyad rulers expanded the mosque, adding a minaret and extending the prayer hall. A major 10th-century expansion resulted in the elaborate mihrab and other ornate embellishments seen today.[63] After the Christian conquest of the city the mosque was converted to a cathedral. It underwent significant modifications in the 16th century but much of the original structure remains.[63] The building was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1984.[79]

Built in 930 AD, the mosque that this minaret adorned has been replaced by a church and the minaret re-purposed as a tower. It retains characteristics of Islamic architecture in the region, including a double horseshoe-arch windows.[90][92]

The Tower of Calahorra to one side of the Roman Bridge.

Along the banks of the Guadalquivir are the Mills of the Guadalquivir, an array of watermills from different periods that used the power of the water current to grind flour. They include the Albolafia, Alegría, Carbonell, Casillas, Enmedio, Lope García, Martos, Pápalo, San Antonio, San Lorenzo and San Rafael mills.[93]

The Calahorra is a fortified tower standing at the southern end of the city's Roman Bridge. Its original construction is attributed to the Almohad period.[94][95] It now houses the Al-Andalus Living Museum (Museo Vivo de Al-Andalus), a museum on the cultural achievements of Al-Andalus.[96][97]

Near the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, on the site of the former Islamic-era Alcázar, are the Caliphal Baths, a partly-reconstructed hammam (baths) complex created in the 10th century and subsequently expanded. The archeological site has been open as a museum since 2006.[98][99]

On the outskirts of the city lies the archaeological site of Madinat al-Zahra, the 10th-century palace-city. It is another major example of Islamic architecture in Spain and has been undergoing excavation and reconstruction since 1911.[100]

Calleja de las Flores, with the Great Cathedral in the background.

Near the cathedral is the old Jewish quarter, which consists of many irregular streets that preserve some of the city's medieval aspect.[92] It contains a museum, the Sepharad House,[101][102] and the Synagogue, built in 1315.[103]

Puerta del Puente.

Surrounding the large Old town are the Roman walls: gates include the Puerta de Almodóvar, the Puerta de Sevilla and Puerta del Puente, which are the only three gates remaining from the original thirteen. Towers and fortresses include the Malmuerta Tower, Torre de Belén and the Puerta del Rincón's Tower.

In the south of the Old town and east of the great cathedral, in the Plaza del Potro, is the Posada del Potro, a row of inns mentioned in literary works including Don Quixote and La Feria de los Discretos, and which remained active until 1972. Both the plaza and the inn get their name from the fountain in the centre of the plaza, which represents a foal (potro). Not far from this plaza is the Arco del Portillo (a 14th-century arch). In the extreme southwest of the Old Town is the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, a former royal property and the seat of the Inquisition; adjacent to it are the Royal Stables, where Andalusian horses are bred. Palace buildings in the Old Town include the Palacio de Viana (14th century) and the Palacio de la Merced among others. Other sights include the Cuesta del Bailío (a staircase connecting the upper and lower part of the city).

The city is home to 12 Christian churches that were built (many as transformations of mosques) by Ferdinand III of Castile after the reconquest of the city in the 13th century. They were to act both as churches and as the administrative centres in the neighborhoods into which the city was divided in medieval times. Some of those that remain are:

Iglesia de Santa Marina de Aguas Santas, built in the 13th century.

• San Nicolás de la Villa.
• San Miguel.
• San Juan y Todos los Santos (also known as Iglesia de la Trinidad).
• Santa Marina de Aguas Santas.
• San Agustín. Begun in 1328, it has now an 18th-century appearance. The façade bell tower, with four bells, dates to the 16th century.
• San Andrés, largely renovated in the 14th and 15th centuries. It has a Renaissance portal (1489) and a bell tower from the same period, while the high altar is a Baroque work by Pedro Duque Cornejo.
• San Lorenzo.
• Church of Santiago.
• San Pedro.
• Santa María Magdalena. Like the others, it combines Romanesque, Mudéjar and Gothic elements.
• San Pablo. In the church's garden in the 1990s the ruins of an ancient Roman circus were discovered.[104]

Main façade of the Iglesia de San Hipólito.

• Iglesia de San Hipólito. It houses the tombs of Ferdinand IV and Alfonso XI of Castile, kings of Castile and León.
• Iglesia de San Francisco
• Iglesia de San Salvador y Santo Domingo de Silos
• Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Linares
• Torre de Santo Domingo de Silos
• Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta
• Chapel of San Bartolomé
• Convent of Santa Clara
• Convent of Santa Cruz
• Convent of Santa Marta

Scattered throughout the city are ten statues of the Archangel Raphael, protector and custodian of the city. These are called the Triumphs of Saint Raphael, and are located in landmarks such as the Roman Bridge, the Puerta del Puente and the Plaza del Potro.

In the western part of the Historic Centre are the statue of Seneca (near the Puerta de Almodóvar, a gate from the time of Islamic rule, (the Statue of Averroes (next to the Puerta de la Luna), and Maimonides (in the plaza de Tiberiades). Further south, near the Puerta de Sevilla, are the sculpture to the poet Ibn Zaydún and the sculpture of the writer and poet Ibn Hazm and, inside the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, the monument to the Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus.

There are also several sculptures in plazas of the Old Town. In the central Plaza de las Tendillas is the equestrian statue of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, in the Plaza de Capuchinos is the Cristo de los Faroles, in Plaza de la Trinidad is the statue of Luis de Góngora, in the Plaza del Cardenal Salazar is the bust of Ahmad ibn Muhammad abu Yafar al-Gafiqi, in the Plaza de Capuchinas is the statue to the bishop Osio, in Plaza del Conde de Priego is the monument to Manolete and the Campo Santo de los Mártires is a statue to Al-Hakam II and the monument to the lovers.

In the Jardines de la Agricultura is the monument to the painter Julio Romero de Torres, a bust by sculptor Mateo Inurria, a bust of the poet Julio Aumente and the sculpture dedicated to the gardener Aniceto García Roldán, who was killed in the park. Further south, in the Gardens of the Duke of Rivas, is a statue of writer and poet Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas by sculptor Mariano Benlliure.

In the Guadalquivir river, near the San Rafael Bridge is the Island of the sculptures, an artificial island with a dozen stone sculptures executed during the International Sculpture Symposium. Up the river, near the Miraflores bridge, is the "Hombre Río", a sculpture of a swimmer looking to the sky and whose orientation varies depending on the current.

• San Rafael Bridge, consisting of eight arches of 25 m span and a length of 217 m. The width is between parapets, divided into 12 m of cobblestone for four circulations and two tiled concrete sidewalks. It was inaugurated on 29 April 1953 joining the Avenue Corregidor with Plaza de Andalucía. In January 2004 the plaques reading "His Excellency the Head of State and Generalissimo of all the Armies, Francisco Franco Bahamonde, opened this bridge of the Guadalquivir on 29 April 1953", which were on both sides of each of the entrances of the bridge, were removed.
• Andalusia Bridge, a suspension bridge.
• Puente de Miraflores, known as "the rusty bridge". This bridge links the Street San Fernando and Ronda de Isasa with the Miraflores peninsula. It was designed by Herrero, Suárez and Casado and inaugurated on 2 May 2003. At first, in 1989, a proposal by architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava was considered[105] that would look like the Lusitania Bridge of Mérida, but this was eventually discarded because its height would obscure the view of the Great Mosque.
• Autovía del Sur Bridge.
• Abbas Ibn Firnas Bridge, Inaugurated in January 2011 It is part of the variant west of Córdoba.
• Puente del Arenal, connecting Avenue Campo de la Verdad with the Recinto Ferial (fairground) of Córdoba.

Córdoba railway station is connected by high speed trains to the following Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Málaga and Zaragoza. More than 20 trains per day connect the downtown area, in 54 minutes, with Málaga María Zambrano station, which provides interchange capability to destinations along the Costa del Sol, including Málaga Airport.

Córdoba has an airport, although there are no airlines operating commercial flights on it. The closest airports to the city are Seville Airport (110 km as the crow flies), Granada Airport (118 km) and Málaga Airport (136 km).[129][130]

The city is also well connected by highways with the rest of the country and Portugal.

The main bus station is located next to the train station. Several bus companies operate intercity bus services to and from Córdoba.[129]