Cordova was celebrated in the time of the Moors for its silversmiths, who are said to have come originally from Damascus; and it exported a peculiar kind of leather which took its name from the city, whence we have still the word “cordwainer.” These industries, however, disappeared with the race that introduced them. In modern times, especially since the opening of the railway to Cadiz and Seville, its industry has developed in various directions, and flax, linen, silk, and woollens are now manufactured. Population, 42,000.
Corduba, probably of Carthaginian origin, was occupied by Marcus Marcellus in 152 B.C., and shortly afterwards became the first Roman colony in Spain. From the large number of men of noble rank among the colonists, the city obtained the title of Patricia; and to this day the Cordovese pride themselves on the purity and antiquity of their descent. The city was the usual residence of the proctor of the province of Bætica, and the seat of one of the four provincial assizes. In the wars between Cæsar and the sons of Pompey, Corduba espoused the cause of the latter. After the battle of Munda, it fell into the hands of Cæsar, who avenged the obstinacy of its resistance by putting 20,000 of the inhabitants to the sword; but in the time of Strabo it still ranked as the largest city of Spain. Under the Goths Corduba maintained its importance; and in the person of Hosius, its bishop, it furnished a president for the Council of Nice. Under the Moors it was at first an apanage of the caliphate of Damascus, but it soon became the capital of the Moorish dominions in Spain. At the death of Abderrahman, it is said, perhaps with Arabic exaggeration, to have contained within its wills 200,000 houses, 600 mosques, 900 baths, and numerous public libraries; whilst on the bank of the Guadalquiver, under the power of that monarch, there were eight cities, 300 towns, and 12,000 populous villages. In the beginning of the 13th century the Moorish empire became dismembered, and fell an easy prey to St Ferdinand of Castile in 1236. Since that period Cordova has gradually declined; and in modern times it has never recovered the assault of the French under Dupont in 1808, who stormed and afterwards pillaged the town. In the Roman period Cordova was the birthplace of Lucan and the two Senecas; and in modern times it numbers among its celebrities Avicenna, Averroes, Juan de Mena, Ambrosio Morales, Cespedes the painter, and Luis de Gongora. It also gives its name to the famous captain Gonzalo de Cordova.
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.
CORDOVA, a town of Mexico, with about 6500 inhabitants, in the province of Vera Cruz, and 57 miles inland from the city of that name. It is situated in a very fertile district near the volcano of Orizava and trades in tobacco, coffee, sugar, and cotton. Its streets are well paved and regularly laid out; the most of its houses are built of stone, and the cathedral, which occupies one side of a large central square, is a fine edifice, with a highly ornamented interior. The neighbourhood abounds in antiquarian remains, and at Amatlan de los Reyes especially there are traces of a temple and a cave, with fragments of carving and pottery.
Sketch Map of Corea.
