Cordoba [antikvár]

Cordoba is the capital of the homonymous prov- ince, one of the eight under the Territorial Government of Andalusia. It has been in the heart of Western his- tory: its colossal caliphal civilisation, in the Middle Ages, was the most magnificent in Europe and laid down a bridge between East and West. The city of Cordoba is set in the geographical centre of the province and is washed by the Guadalquivir River, which splits the town and the province in two: to the north closely knit mountain ranges are plentiful in game; to the south there spreads a fruitful country, the Campina, speckleed with white villages and trimmed by another stretch of mountains belonging to the Southern Betica mountain range. Cordoba, the capital, has 300,000 inhabitants, almost half of the population in the province. The aver- age yearly temperature is 17.5 °C. It also stands out among the many Spanish cities attracting tourists, undoubtedly because of its marvellous historical legacy and monumental heritage. Founded around 169 B.C. by the Roman praetor Claudius Marcelus, it ivas the birthplace of the philoso- pher Seneca and the poet Lucan, among others.