CORDOBA

CORDOBA, A HERITAGE CITY 

UNESCO defines heritage as "the cultural heritage of a community's past, maintained to the present day and transmitted to future generations". The existence of a cultural heritage of the first magnitude in Cordoba is explained by having been the capital city three times in history: capital of the Roman Baetica (II B.C.-V A.D.), capital of the Emirate and Umayyad Caliphate (VIII-X) and capital of the Castilian frontier during the Reconquest (XIII-XV). 

Then, after the general damage of the 19th century to the heritage in Spain, caused by disentailment and disregard for heritage, Cordoba, since the early 20th century, is aware of its heritage value and protects it. It was the first city to take advantage of the Royal Decree Law of August 9, 1926, on the Protection and Conservation of the artistic wealth, to protect the most important area of its urban area. Thus, in 1929 the old part of Cordoba was included in the National Artistic Treasure, by the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. This old part included the whole of the Ajerquía or eastern district and the southern part of the Villa, the old Islamic Medina, which included mainly the neighborhood of the Mosque - Cathedral.

Subsequently, the General Urban Development Plan of 1958 extended the delimitation of the historic-artistic area, including the central and northeastern sectors of the Villa, as well as the San Basilio neighborhood. The General Urban Development Plan of 1986 will establish a delimitation of the historic center superior to that of 1958. 

On May 21, 1985, the General Directorate of Fine Arts agreed to initiate a file for the declaration of Historic-Artistic Ensemble in favor of the extension of the Historic-Artistic Ensemble of Cordoba. For this purpose, limits are defined that coincide in general lines with the Medina Wall and the Ajerquía of the Muslim period, including new monuments such as the Calahorra or the Roman Bridge, new neighborhoods such as the neighborhood of San Basilio and covering a subsoil full of important archaeological remains. Numerous actions have altered the original appearance of the historic city, but it still retains the structure of much of its traditional urban layout. 

This extension incorporates a large part of the city's heritage values that were left out with the previous delimitation. The area of the Historic Complex of Cordoba has increased considerably, from 161 hectares to 246.73 hectares. In order to preserve the values of the Historic Center of Cordoba, the Special Plan for the Protection of the Historic Center was drafted and approved in 2003. 

As a "reward" for all this effort, Cordoba can now boast four UNESCO awards for its heritage. The Mosque was declared a World Heritage Site in 1984 and ten years later, in December 1994, the declaration was extended to the entire historic center defined at that time. Subsequently, in 2012 the Festival of the Patios of Cordoba deserved a new declaration as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. And in 2018 it was the turn of the Caliphal City of Medina Azahara. 

Cordoba magnifies everything it touches, therefore it magnifies and enriches us, the people of Cordoba What do we, the people of Cordoba, do to magnify and enrich Cordoba? Do not ask yourself what Cordoba can do for you, but what you can do for Cordoba, each one from their own area of responsibility, from respectful care, honest work or the enactment of regulations that make the historic center habitable. 

Juan José Primo Jurado 

General Director of the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage 

Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Regional Government of Andalusia