Land of Comechingones (aboriginal tribe from Córdoba province) and legends,
of thousand-year-old bonfires and aboriginal culture, Córdoba province
was the cradle and the home of small independent towns, ruled by a chief, in
charge of spreading the native culture and wisdom. Valle de Punilla, Calamuchita,
Sierras del Sur, the present Ischilín district and Valle del Suquía
or Río Primero were the ideal places to hunt, get relaxed and even to
do agrotourism. Amid this scenario of thousand-year-old hills and mythological
corners, the aboriginal culture kept their beliefs through the gift of the speech
and the art. Caves in Cerro Colorado and other spots in the region were the
places chosen to make pictographies, proof of the way in which aboriginal tribes
saw the world.
The arrival of the Spanish colonization to the lands of Córdoba found
tall, thin and bearded men. They lived in semi-underground huts built in pits
above ground level. They spoke a language different from most of the northern
aboriginal tribes. Sanavirón and its corresponding dialects were the
local language in contraposition to the Quechua language, so expanded throughout
the rest of Argentina.
The European expedition thorough the national territory was started by Francisco
de Aguirre by the year 1556, 64 years after the arrival of Christopher Columbus
to América. In 1573, Captain Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, leaves
Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera both the testimony of his expedition through
the grounds of Córdoba and a description of the aboriginal peoples. The
reason for the expedition of the conquerors of Alto Perú was to find
an access road to Río de la Plata; and that was the reason why Mr. Jerónimo
Luis founded Córdoba de la Nueva Andalucía by Suquía River
on July 6th 1573.
After being founded, Córoba was a member of Gobernación del Tucumán
(Government of the northern province Tucumán), politically dependant
on Chile and then on Virreinato del Perú (Perú Viceroyalty). It
was on August 1783 when, urged by the need to separate itself from Río
de la Plata Viceroyalty, the city of Córdoba is declared capital of the
city council, which by that time ruled the region of San Juan, San Luis and
la Rioja. The first Governor Mayor of Córdoba was Marqués de Sobremonte.
After having being deprived of their material belongings, the colonists were
evangelized in the conquest of the faith; and it was the Jesuits who carried
on this evangelization. They, torch-bearers of the ecclesiastical wisdom, built
lost of farms in the outskirts of the city and the main temple called Compañía
de Jesús in the downtown area of the city of Córdoba. From these
farms it was established the cultural, religious, educational and political
systems, which ruled the region of Córdoba for hundreds of years and
laid the foundations for its growth.
Between 1599, year of the arrival of the Jesuitical Order to Argentina to 1767,
year in which it was expelled, the province of Córdoba was witness of
the arrival of the western faith and its majestic constructions. Both "Camino
de las Estancias", and "Manzana Jesuítica" circuits, were
declared Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO in 2000 because of their historical
and political importance.
The native peoples, which had suffered the onslaught of the conquerors, were
also victims of the European evangelization. It was in fact this conquest which
prevented the native culture and language from continuing developing and subsequently
caused the disappearance of the aborigines, who became totally extinct with
the crossbreeding.
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