Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Cordova (2.)

CORDOVA, or Cordoba, the chief town of a province of the same name in the Argentine Republic, 246 miles by rail from Rosario, in 31° 24′ S. lat. and 64° 9′ W. long. It lies in the very heart of the country, and occupies the bottom of a considerable depression to the south of the River Primero. The streets, which cut each other at right angles, are for the most part unpaved, but are furnished with side paths of brick; and the houses are almost all of one story. The cathedral of St Peter, built by the Italian Jesuit Primoli, ranks among the finest churches in South America, though the interior hardly corresponds to the promise of the outside; and the church of the convent of Santa Catalina is also worthy of notice. The educational institutions are of great and increasing importance, including a university established in the Colegio San Carlos, or old Jesuit monastery, which was built by the same architect as the cathedral; an ecclesiastical seminary, supported by the Government; a national observatory, instituted in 1871; and an academy of sciences. The cabildo or Government-house (adorned with a pillared portico), an orphan asylum, two hospitals, and several convents complete the list of the public edifices. The population in 1869 numbered about 28,500, consisting of half-breeds of various degrees, with a considerable predominance of the Spanish type. Since the opening of the railway to Rosario in 1870, the trade of the city, always of some importance, has begun to develop. The exports are mainly hides and wool, and the imports miscellaneous manufactures. Cordova was founded by Cabrera in 1573, and made the capital of the province of Tucuman by Philip V.; its main importance arose from its being the centre of the Jesuit missions of South America and the principal seat of learning on the continent. The revolutionary wars for a time destroyed its prosperity; but latterly it has much recovered. In 1871 it was the seat of a national exhibition.