Cordoba is the second most important city in the country after Buenos Aires. It is called “la Docta� (“the learned�), because its university was the first one to be founded in the Rio de la Plata area. It is also called “the city of bells�, because Franciscans and Dominicans filled its churches. Cordoba is, without the shadow of a doubt, a major landmark due to its central location. Although 200,000 people inhabit it, Cordoba has not lost its quiet appeal, if it is compared with the frantic Buenos Aires. Over the last half of a century, an industrial imprint quite infrequent in the provinces was added to its vast cultural tradition. Its mild weather as well as its location in the opening of the Punilla Valley, makes it a prominent tourist destination, only beaten by the Atlantic Coast. Cordoba is a very lively city. Its inhabitants are famous for their great sense of humour and their pride in living in one of the most interesting cities in the country, a city no traveller should miss.