Cordoba - Culture

Cordoba is the second important city in Argentina. Located in the intersection of the routes that went from Chile and the Alto Peru (Bolivia) to the port of Buenos Aires, it was the most important city during the colonial period. The area of the sierras was occupied by the Comechingones Indian in ancient times. They lived in stone cabins, practiced agriculture, hunting and fishing, organized the community in families and made pottery and knitting.

In the Calamuchita Valley, there is a picturesque village called Villa General Belgrano, where members of the European and Argentine communities settled, attracted by the calm and beauty not only of the country landscape but also of the city outline that reminds of the small alpine villages. Other less important but beautiful villages are Alta Gracia with its important Jesuit complex, and Santa Rosa Calamuchita, where it is also possible to enjoy from its numerous beaches, rivers and camping. Cordoba offers culture in consumable doses, scenery in serene settings, and as one Cordoba lawyer points out, the best asset of all: the province's warm and willing people. The infrastructure is adequate though never luxurious, the roads are often winding but never hair-raising, and the sights are singular while serene. Cordoba’s tourist circuits spread out from the capital city like the spokes of a wheel, and many can be covered comfortably in a day. Many of Argentina's major artists have chosen comers of Cordoba to concentrate on their craft in more tranquil conditions. The pace is more peaceful and the people less intense than in Buenos Aires. And Cordoba, as the nation's second city, does get an ample sampling of the international performers who play BA, because Cordoba is just an hour from the country's capital by plane.

For the traveller, Cordoba offers a comfortable contrast to the extravaganzas of Argentina's extremities: the Andean north with its indigenous Incaic roots and the roaring Iguazu Falls or the thrilling sights of Patagonia, with its glaciers and marine wildlife. To the northwest of the city and along the Sierra Chica mountain range, there are villages that deserve special attention due to their natural sceneries and their colonial reminiscence.