# Escuela de Lenguas UNLP/About Argentina/Tourist Attractions/Córdoba (province, Argentina)

Córdoba is one of the most beautiful and biggest provinces of Argentina. It’s in the centre of the republic. The capital is Córdoba city. It’s an old cosmopolitan and traditional city with historic buildings, for example: the university, the cathedral and other churches (from the Jesuit period), the National Monserrat School, etc. there are also modern constructions. This province is an important cultural, industrial and tourist centre with a spectacular geography: valleys, lakes, rivers and mountains, where it is possible to do different sports. This beautiful province is in the centre of Argentina. The weather is very healthy but in summer it is hot. You can visit a lot of places. Carlos Paz is a nice city for holiday. The lake St Roque is near this city. It´s a big and wonderful lake. Villa General Belgrano for the beer in these months. Cosquin, specially for its folk music Festival. You can do many tours to the rivers, lakes hills, etc…. The Uritorco is a famosus hill in the world. You can do many tours to the rivers, lakes, hills etc... You can eat its typical foods: chivito, empanadas, serrano ham and sweet desserts. The typical souvenir are the best “alfajores”. You can´t miss this place !! Visit Córdoba and you will be happy !!!

## Cities
### Villa General Belgrano

Villa General Belgrano is a town located in the department of Calamuchita, in the province of Cordoba, Argentina.
Its inhabitants are mostly of European descent, who came here from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Hungary and Spain. The weather is mild, with an average annual temperature of 15-17° C, with winters between cold and fresh, and warm summers. Any time of the year is good to visit Villa General Belgrano, but spring and summer are the best because it is the ideal place for trekking and horse riding and to get to know places like German Peak, Oriel Hill, The Enchanted Forest of Mr. Otto, etc. The traditional festivals, its art and its particular central European architectural style surprise tourists. The National Beer Festival is in October and it is called “ Oktoberfest”, because it is similar to the Oktoberfest, the pagan ritual originated in Munich, Germany, five centuries ago and in which they paid tribute to a sparking goddess that enters the body like an icy stream, while it seizes the spirit of the people. The Villa also has two other important national festivals: the Alpine Chocolate Festival in July, (the celebrations are in the town hall, also known as Alpine Hall and the main attraction in it is the making of chocolate in sight), and the National Party of the Viennese Dough, (usually in April, coinciding with Easter). Every year there are more and more tourists from all over the world that come to enjoy these events with several German and Austrian meals. The strategic location of Villa General Belgrano allows the tourists to make different trips and to get to know the attractions of the valley and then return in the evening, when the lights of this small village begin to illuminate the arrival of the night, as if it was a story.

### La Cumbre

La Cumbre is a small city located in Punilla Valley, in Córdoba Province, Argentina, on the National Route nº 38, and 96 kilometres away from the capital city. It owes its name to the railroad because it's the upper place of the strand. La Cumbre is a beautiful holiday place with a mild weather. It has a great golf field, hotels, hostels and restaurants. In the mountains way that leads you to Los Cocos, near La Cumbre, there are fine and beautiful English style residences. One of them is “El Paraiso”, property of the dead writer Mujica Laines and today transformed into a museum. Another mountain road leads to San Gerónimo dam, a scenic place. Near it, you can find the famous “alfajor” factory “Estancia El Rosario”. Since the railway construction, the British community has been very important in La Cumbre. I recommend all Argentinean people to visit this beautiful place which is full of attractions.

### San Marcos Sierra

San Marcos Sierra is a little town in Cordoba, Argentina. San Marcos is a very quiet place. In this town people can find a natural environment where the weather is always nice. The town centre streets are not paved. It's the perfect place to relax, rest and enjoy the landscape, go for a walk along the green forest, ride a horse or swim in the lake. Some years ago, many people chose to live and settle down in this calm place. They became artists, writers, and musicians making their way of life an attraction to tourists. Both the landscape and the people made this place perfect to go and relax. People can visit interesting places, too. For example, San Marcos Chapel. It was built between 1671 and 1734 by the Jesuits. Its walls are made of stone and adobe. The Mill was also built by the Jesuits in the 17th century. The Rumi-Huasi museum has important collections of paintings, crafts, murals and minerals. There is another museum called Hippie Museum, which is the only one of this kind in the world. The main economic activity is apiculture. The people there are the main producers of honey in Cordoba. The people in S.M. Sierra are about to have their first traffic lights and WIFI connection.

## Other attractions
### Eiffel mill in Punilla Valley

Walking through the Punilla Valley in the province of Cordoba, between Capilla del Monte and La Cumbre, I met an abandoned structure of an old windmill. It is not a mill. It is what remains of the most beautiful mill I saw in my life. How much beauty disregarded!!!! But nevertheless it continues surprising the viewers. The blades are missing but the few people of the place have electrified it and still provides water to dry land. Incredibly, the mill was designed and built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the father of the Parisian Tower. It was brought from France in 1900. Bought by Ms. Adelia Harislao Olmos (the wife of Ambrosio Olmos, former governor of Cordoba,) for her colonial house in the Place named Dolores.

### “El Eden” Hotel

La Falda is a lovely city in the northwest of Cordoba. It’s a very friendly place with many hotels, because there are always a lot of tourists there. The landscape is very beautiful with pretty, low mountains and amazing rivers. In La Falda, there is an old hotel that it is a museum now, called “El Eden”. It was famous in the late 20th Century and in the mid 21st Century. Its owners were the brothers Walter and Bruno Eichhorn and their wives. Famous people stayed there, like Julio Argentino Roca, José Figueroa Alcorta, Agustín P. Justo and Ruben Dario, Arturo Toscanini, Berta Singerman, Edward Windsor, at that time Prince of Wale and scientist Albert Einstein as he was passing through Cordoba. In the summer with warm weather, these aristocratic people traveled on holiday for two or three months to stay at this luxurious hotel and enjoyed themselves doing a lot of activities. In the low hills they could go horse riding, play golf or go for a walk. Inside the hotel they enjoyed good meals, theatre shows, dancing, or people just met to talk. People traveled from Buenos Aires by train with their servants, and they carried smart and fashionable clothes. The train arrived near the hotel, because the train station was about 2 km. away and the passengers arrived in horse-drawn carriages. As Eichhorn´s family were pro-Nazis, they collaborated with money and support to the regime. Then, when Argentina declared war against the Axis, the hotel became a luxury prison for Japanese diplomats. Later the hotel was expropriated and it finally closed its doors in the 1960s. It remained closed for long time, it was looted and what we can see now is the remains of its magnificent facilities, such as the bar, the engine room (a true wonder for the time), the great room, the dance hall and the outdoor theater.