COR'DOVA, or Cott Dona., a city of Spain, capital of the province of Cordova, is situ ated in the midst of olives and palm-trees on the Guadalquivir, here crossed by a stone bridge of 16 arches, constructed by the Moors. Lat. 37° 52' n., long. 4° 49' west. Its old Moorish walls and convent-crowned hill in the background give it quite an oriental aspect; but its beauty, like most oriental beauty, is merely external; inside, its streets are narrow, dark, and dirty, with a general appearance of decay. Many gardens arc inclosed within the walls. Among the principal buildings is the cathedral, formerly a Mohammedan mosque, an immense structure dating from the 8th c., and generally regarded as the finest type of a Moslem temple in Europe. Internally, its columns, composed of various-colored marble, jasper, and porphyry, form a perfect grove, there being still some 850 remaining, though at one time there were about half as many more. The bishop's palace, an old residence of the Moorish kings now used as stables, and several of the churches and convents, are also noteworthy. C. was at one time cele brated for its manufacture of Cordovan (q.v.), but that has now grer.tly declined. Its
silversmiths and filigree workers have still a good reputation; and there are manufac tures of paper, silken fabrics, hats, etc. Its inhabitants are proud, above even the pride of Spaniards. Pop. 42,900. C. is a very ancient place, having been founded by the Romans as Corduba, Cesar, 45 B.C., put 22,000 of its inhabitants to death for having sided with Pompey. Taken by the Goths in the 6th c., it soon after fell into the hands of the Moors, and became the capital of the Moorish empire in Spain. From the 9th c. to the 12th c., it was one of the greatest centers of commerce in the world, and is said to have contained a million inhabitants. It was taken by Ferdinand III. of Castile in 1236, and never afterwards regained its prosperity. In modern times, C. was taken and plundered by the French under Dupont in 1808. C. is the birthplace of the two Senecas, the poet Lucan, and the astronomer Averroes. The province of Cordova has an area of 5,159 sq.m., and a pop. (1870) of 382,652. See ANnAtuuskt.