Cordoba, Argentina

August 18th - September 15th [2024]

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Cordoba represents a last minute side trip idea that I hatched while researching alternative cities of interest during a retreat to my adopted Buenos Aires base camp.  My interest in the city was primary focused on its architecture but ultimately expanded to include its surrounding nature after speaking to natives who vacation in the region often. Cordoba is located due west of Buenos Aires along the foothills of the Sierra Chicas and named after its sister city in Spain. This is Argentina's second largest city featuring the Suquía River and beautifully preserved Spanish Colonial architecture including a World Heritage Site (the Jesuit Bloc) near its historic center. I decided to spend a month of exploration while placing a more focused effort on my art work without the distraction of friends and events that is the natural occurence in a world class environment like Buenos Aires.

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Cordoba is an attractive, very livable city built around a major river with associated green belts, canals, plazas and parks. Unfortunately, the timing of my stay coincided with low water levels so the normally beautiful aesthetics of running water were reduced to dry beds and a trickle of movement. Never the less, it wasn't difficult to visualize what it might be like during peak  summer months when snow melt from the nearby Sierras reaches peak flow.

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Architecturally, the city is a potpourri of styles including Beaux Arts, Neo Classical, Industrial, Modern and Post Modern. But for most, the jewels of Cordoba reside within its Spanish Colonial collection centered around its primary Cathedral. This is an area where you can meander for hours enjoying textured corridors, grandiose open spaces and unique nodes of surprise that occur when grids become fractured. And all the while, you are surrounded by historical architecture as art - hand crafted, human, inspiring. 

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As for the surrounding nature, I blew it. Perhaps it was the ten hour bus ride from CABA but for some reason I just couldn't stomach the idea of spending more travelan effort to explore the beauty of Argentina's outdoors. Instead, I stayed focused on my daily hikes searching for urban treasures. Yes, in retrospect, this was a mistake because the nature of Cordoba Province is the regions major attraction and I had the time to make it happen. But that just gives me an excuse to revisit and for that, my decision might have been more conscious than acknowledged.

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