Places you can't miss in Cordoba

1. Capilla Doméstica

The Capilla Doméstica, completed in 1644, sits directly behind the church on Caseros. Its ornate ceiling was made with cowhide stretched over a skeleton of thick taguaro cane and painted with pigments composed partially of boiled bones. Guided visits leave from inside the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

2. Colegio Nacional de Monserrat

Next door to the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, the Colegio Nacional de Monserrat dates from 1782, though the college itself was founded in 1687 and transferred after the Jesuit expulsion. Though the interior cloisters are original, the exterior was considerably modified in 1927 by restoring architect Jaime Roca, who gave the building its present baroque flare.

3. Cripta Jesuítica

The Jesuits, at the beginning of the 18th century, built the Cripta Jesuítica. It was originally designed as a novitiate and later converted to a crypt and crematorium. Abandoned after the Jesuit expulsion, it was demolished and buried around 1829 when the city, while expanding Av Colón, knocked the roof into the subterranean naves and built over the entire structure. It remained all but forgotten until Telecom, while laying underground telephone cable in 1989, accidentally ran into it.

4. Iglesia Catedral

The construction of Córdoba's cathedral began in 1577 and dragged on for more than two centuries under several architects, including Jesuits and Franciscans, and though it lacks any sense of architectural unity, it's a beautiful structure. Crowned by a Romanesque dome, it overlooks Plaza San Martín, at Independencia and 27 de Abril. The lavish interior was painted by renowned cordobés (Córdoban) painter Emilio Caraffa.

5. Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús

Designed by the Flemish Padre Philippe Lemaire, the Manzana Jesuítica Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús dates from 1645 but was not completed until 1671, with the successful execution of Lemaire's plan for a cedar roof in the form of an inverted ship's hull. Lemaire was once, unsurprisingly, a boat builder. Inside, the church's baroque altarpiece is made from carved Paraguayan cedar from Misiones province.

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