Córdoba (España)

Historia

Córdoba, also called Cordova in English, is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It was a Roman settlement, then colonized by Muslim armies in the eighth century. It became the capital of the Islamic Emirate, and then of the Caliphate of Córdoba, including most of the Iberian Peninsula.Caliph Al Hakam II opened many libraries in addition to the many medical schools and universities which existed at the time, making Córdoba a centre for education. During these centuries it became the center of a society ruled by Muslims, in which all other groups had a second-class status. It was recaptured by Christian forces in 1236, during the Reconquista. Today it is a moderately sized modern city; its population in 2011 was about 330,000. The historic centre was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Córdoba has the highest summer temperatures in Spain and Europe, with average high temperatures around 37C in July and August.HistoryPrehistory, antiquity and Roman foundation of the cityThe first traces of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 42,000 to 35,000 BC In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy. The first historical mention of a settlement dates to the Carthaginian expansion across the Guadalquivir, when general Hamilcar Barca renamed it Kartuba, from Kart-Juba, meaning "the City of Juba", a Numidian commander who had died in a battle nearby. Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 BC.