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Córdoba

Capital of Córdoba province, southern Spain, on the River Guadalquivir; population (2001 est) 313,500. Paper, textiles, silverware, and copper products are manufactured, and there is a large trade in agricultural produce, wine, olive oil, and lead. It has many Moorish remains, including the mosque, now a cathedral, founded by Abd ar-Rahman I in 785, which is one of the largest Christian churches in the world.

History

The original nucleus of Córdoba was an Iberian settlement, which was occupied by the Romans c.206 BC. Córdoba passed to the Visigoths in 572 and to the Moors in 711. It became the seat (756-1031) of an independent emirate, later called a caliphate, which included most of Muslim Spain. Córdoba became renowned during this period as a centre of Muslim and Jewish culture, and one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in Europe. The city reached its height in the 10th century, under Abd ar-Rahman III, when it became one of the foremost centres of art and learning in Spain and also the largest city in Europe. It declined after 1031, and became subject to Seville in 1078. Ferdinand III of Castile took the town from the Moors in 1236. It was sacked by the French in 1808 and sided with General Francisco Franco early (1936) in the civil war.

The Senecas, Lucan, Averroës, and Maimonides were born in Córdoba.

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