Contents
Córdoba, Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
— Municipality —
Flag
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 4°46′0″W / 37.883333°N 4.766667°W / 37.883333; -4.766667Coordinates: 4°46′0″W / 37.883333°N 4.766667°W / 37.883333; -4.766667
Country
Spain
Autonomous community
Andalusia
Province Córdoba
Judicial district Córdoba
Founded 8th century BC (Pre-Roman settlement), 169 BC (Roman colony)
Government
- Alcalde Andrés Ocaña (IU)
Area
- Total 1,255.24 km2 (484.7 sq mi)
Elevation 120 m (394 ft)
Population (2008)
- Total 325,453
- Density 259.3/km2 (671.5/sq mi)
- Demonym Cordobés/sa, cordobense, cortubí, patriciense
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 14001 - 14014
Official language(s)
Website Official website
Córdoba (also Cordova) is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. A Iberian and Roman city in ancient times, in the Middle Ages it was a capital of a Islamic caliphate and one of the largest cities in the world. Its population in 2008 was 325,453.[1]
Today a moderately-sized modern city, the old town contains many impressive architectural reminders of when Qurṭuba (قرطبة), the thriving capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba, governed almost all of the Iberian peninsula. It has been estimated that in the latter half of the tenth century Córdoba, with up to 500,000 inhabitants, was then the most populated city in Europe and, perhaps, in the world.[2]
History
The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neandertal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In th 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually acquired the copper and silver metallurgy. The first historical mention of a settlement dates however to the Carthaginian expansion across the Guadalquivir, when the general Amilcar Barca baptized it Kartuba, from Kart-Juba, meaning "the City of Juba", the latter being a Numidian commander who had died in a battle nearby.
Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 BC. In 169 the Roman consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus founded a Latin colony alongside the pre-existing Iberian settlement. 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.
At the time of Julius Caesar, Córdoba was the capital of the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior Baetica. Great Roman philosophers like Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, orators like Seneca the Elder and poets like Lucan came from Roman Cordoba. Later, it 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.
It was captured in 711[3] by a Berber Muslim army: in 716 it became a provincial capital, depending from the Caliphate of Damascus; in Arabic it was known as قرطبة (Qurṭuba). In May 766, it was elected as capital of the independent Muslim emirate of al-Andalus, later a Caliphate itself. During the caliphate apogee (1000 AD), Córdoba had a population of roughly 400,000 inhabitants,[4] though estimates range between 250,000 and 500,000. In the 10th-11th centuries Córdoba was one of the most advanced cities in the world, as well as a great cultural, political, financial and economic centre. The Great Mosque of Córdoba dates back to this time; under caliph Al-Hakam II Córdoba received what was then the largest library in the world, housing from 400,000 to 1,000,000 volumes.
After the fall of the caliphate (1031), Córdoba became the capital of a Republican independent taifa. This short-lived was conquered by Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, lord of Seville, in 1070. In turn, the latter was overthrown by the Almoravids, later replaced by the Almohads.
During the latter's domination the city declined, the role of capital of Muslim al-Andalus having been given to Seville. On 29 June 1236, after a siege of several months, it was captured by King Ferdinand III of Castile, during the Spanish Reconquista. The city was divided into 14 barrios and numerous new church buildings were added.
The city declined especially after Renaissance times. In the 18th century it had reduced to just 20,000 inhabitants. Population and economy started to increase only in the early 20th century.
With one of the most extensive historical heritages in the world (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 17 December 1984), the city also features a number of modern areas, including the districts of Zoco and the railway station district, Plan RENFE.
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, Obejo, La Carlota, Villaharta, Villaviciosa, Almodóvar del Río and Guadalcázar. The combined population of such an area would be around 351,000.
Historic Centre of Córdoba*UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party
Spain
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv
Reference 313
Region** Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1984 (8th Session)
Extensions 1994
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.
.JPG)