Under Umayyad rule, Córdoba was transformed into a centre of education and learning,[7][8] and by the 10th century it had grown to be the second-largest city in Europe.

Córdoba is home to notable examples of Moorish architecture such as the Mezquita-Catedral, which was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 and is now a cathedral.

One theory, suggested in 1799 by José Antonio Conde, is that the name comes from Punic qart ṭūbah "good town" as Córdoba was founded during Carthaginian Iberia.

[16] The famous Cordoba Treasure, with mixed local and Roman artistic traditions, was buried in the city at this time; it is now in the British Museum.

It became the capital of Baetica, with a forum and numerous temples, and was the main center of Roman intellectual life in Hispania Ulterior.

[20] In the late Roman period, Hosius of Corduba or "Bishop Ossius" was the dominant figure of the Latin Church throughout the earlier 4th century.

[15] Later, Corduba occupied an important place in the Provincia Hispaniae of the Byzantine Empire (552–572); the Visigoths conquered it in the late 6th century.

The new Umayyad commanders established themselves within the city and in 716 it became the provincial capital,[23] subordinate to the Caliphate of Damascus, replacing Seville.

[26][27] In 785–786 (169 AH) he ordered construction of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which was completed the next year and underwent later expansions under his successors.

[32] In the 10th and 11th centuries Córdoba was one of the most advanced cities in the world, and a great cultural, political, financial and economic centre.

[36] Later, the vizier al-Mansur – the de facto ruler of al-Andalus from 976 to 1002 – burned most of the books on philosophy from the library of Caliph al-Hakam II to appease Maliki jurists (ulama); most of the others were sold off or perished in the civil strife not long after.

[38][39] After a period of weak central rule, Abd ar-Rahman III came to power as emir in 912 and campaigned lengthily and systematically to re-establish the authority of Córdoba across Al-Andalus.

To the north, part of the rabad al-Rusafa was located just south of the present Parador of Arruzafa (or Parador of Cordoba), where excavations in the 1990s uncovered the remains of a variety of almuna, Roman villas and irrigation systems (with one aljibe of the early medieval period preserved in the basement of a private suburban house).

[48][49] Under rule of the Banu Yahwar, Cordobese power did not extend far from the city, as other independent polities emerged in the rest of the former caliphate.

[61] Upon the city's conquest the mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Santa Maria).

[62][63] This was also followed by the return to Santiago de Compostela of the church bells that had been looted by Almanzor and moved to Córdoba by Christian war prisoners in the late 10th century.

[64] Ferdinand III granted the city a fuero in 1241;[65] it was based on the Liber Iudiciorum and in the customs of Toledo, yet formulated in an original way.

[70] In 1282, in the context of the problematic succession of Alfonso X of Castile, an army formed by the latter's supporters as well as Marinid forces laid siege to the city (where prince Sancho was) for 21 days.

[75] In 1368, during the Castilian Civil War, the city, loyal to the Trastámara side, was attacked by forces supporting of Peter I, with Granadan backing.

[76] In the context of the Early Modern Period, the city experienced a golden age between 1530 and 1580, profiting from an economic activity based on the trade of agricultural products and the preparation of clothes originally from Los Pedroches, peaking at a population of about 50,000 by 1571.

The putschists were met by the resistance of the political and social representatives who had gathered in the civil government headquarters,[83] and remained there until the Nationalist rifle fire and the presence of artillery broke their morale.

[84] In the following weeks, Queipo de Llano and Major Bruno Ibañez carried out a bloody repression in which 2,000 persons were executed.

[88] The Mosque-Cathedral was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and in 1994 this status was extended to the entire historic centre of Córdoba.

[97][98] Winters are mild, yet cooler than other low lying cities in southern Spain due to its interior location, wedged between the Sierra Morena and the Penibaetic System.

Precipitation is concentrated in the coldest months; this is due to the dry summer climate pattern featured in large parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

[113][additional citation(s) needed] The Calahorra is a fortified tower standing at the southern end of the city's Roman Bridge.

Up the river, near the Miraflores bridge, is the "Hombre Río", a sculpture of a swimmer looking to the sky and whose orientation varies depending on the current.

[144][145] The municipal council consists of 29 members: 11 of PP, 7 of PSOE, 4 of IU, 4 of Ganemos Córdoba, 2 of Ciudadanos and 1 of Unión Cordobesa.

As of July 2008, the city is divided into 10 administrative districts, coordinated by the Municipal district boards, which in turn are subdivided into neighbourhoods: Córdoba's main sports team is its association football team, Córdoba CF, which plays in the Spanish LaLiga HyperMotion following a brief one-season tenure in La Liga during the 2014–15 season.

Córdoba railway station is connected by high speed trains to the following Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Málaga and Zaragoza.