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 Marcelo Sola  Agencia Córdoba Turismo y Guillermo Scipione |
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You are invited to discover the heart of Córdoba City and get dazzled by the most valuable cultural heritage of the province.
 Córdoba City is a capital city that owns an extraordinary capacity to combine exact doses of modernity and tradition. The result can be enjoyed by visitors as they walk around its historical center to discover, among noisy avenues and crowded pedestrian streets, the old founders' design. An excellent alternative to get information about these tours is to go to the Tourism Office located around the Intendence Building on Deán funes Street between San Martín and Rivera Indarte Streets. There are interpretative guided tours around the emblematic city center departing from this office. |
 The area you will be visiting , will allow you ,with the guide's explanations , to go back to the most fascinating religious, cultural and social history of the country while you visit the oldest government buildings, squares and churches of South America. As you go ahead, you will be surprised at the effects of the economic development and modernization which has turned Córdoba into a metropoli having high quality services. |
 The departing point is San Martín Square which is from 1577. It was originally thought as an open area or “dry square” where military parades, processions and bullfights took place. It was fenced by alfalfa fields and by some acacias. People who were sentenced to death were killed here during the hispanic period. The guide will tell you that it was only in the second half of the XIX century that the first forestation took place and , in 1946 the monument in honor to General José de San Martín was settled here. The monument was given by sculptors Fontana and Locatti. There are also two marble fountains made by José Allio. |
 Opposite the Square, there are some buildings which have an important social meaning such as Bishop Mercadillo's Oratory. Don Pedro de la Torre y Palacio had this building built in the XVIII century since the Cathedral was consacrated in 1782 and a place for the Bishopric See was needed. It was made of stonework - lime, stone and sand- and mercadillo, the first bishop of the city lived there for many years. The small building has a wrought iron projecting balcony which is only one piece at the front and is a real jewel of colonial craft. The door is made of carob tree stud with metal pins. You will go to the Historical City Hall located on San Martín Street, opposite the main square. This building was the first institution of the Viceroyalty set by Spain in America as the authorities' seat. |
 The construction started in 1588 but the last works were made by " Sobremonte Marquis" at the end of the XVIII century and the classical style belongs to the XIX century during Juárez Celman Government. Due to the fact that the construction lasted so many years, the guide will explain that the City Hall has two styles - the ground floor which is colonial and the first floor which is classic. Inside the building, you can visit the patios, the undergroud cells and the Red Room. Currently, in this centennial building there are plastic arts, exhibitions and concerts which make it an attractive art center in the city. |
 You will go 10 meters forward on the same street to contemplate this magnificent architectural work which is the Cathedral. The construction started in 1574 and lasted 200 years because there were three landslides. If you observe it from the Square, you will notice that it has a mixture of styles. In the edges of the towers the statues of the musician angels outstand with trumpets and native or indoamerican skirts. |
 The imposing cupola is from 1753 and, in the vault of the central nave , you can admire the unequaled talent of Emilio Caraffa- the great master of Córdoba Painting. Once inside it, you will be dazzled by the golden decoration that tries to explain the joint of the new world and the old world and by the beautiful vitreaux of the Sacred Heart. |
 Photo: Guillermo Scipione Here, the rests of Fray Mamerto Esquiú lay. he was one of the greatest speakers of the Constitution of 1853. Deán funes rests are also kept here. He was the first Deán at the Cathedral and the first University Rector. Apart from these, the rests of Gral. José María Paz and his wife Margarita Wilde lay at the Cathedral. |
 As you come out from the Cathedral, you can see "Pasaje Santa Catalina" which is a small street that separates it from the City Hall. This pass is still marked with a traditional scent. It has been used with different aims throughout the years- Church Cementery, execution site and as horse pen of the police. You will go back, cross 27 de Abril Street to go to Juan de Tejeda Religious Art Museum being unique in the country. |
 Photo: Guillermo Scipione Inside it, there are valuable collections of Religious Art which mainly belonged to the Cathedral treasure. Works of art by Emilio Caraffa, Genaro Pérez and Antonio Seguí among others make up these collections- outstanding " San Pedro articulado" (articulated Saint Peter) and "Señor de la Paciencia" (the Lord of Patience). The most outstanding feeling is that of time escape since there is a unique view of the Cathedral from its patio that makes you feel three hundred centuries back in time. |
 Photo: Cordoba Tourism Agency |
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See also: Hotels and accommodation in Córdoba |
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