Córdoba, Spain

Spanish city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It was a Roman settlement, taken over by the Visigoths, and then colonised by Muslim armies in the eighth century. It became the capital of a Muslim emirate, and then of the Caliphate of Córdoba, which encompassed most of the Iberian Peninsula. During this period, it became a centre of education and learning, and by the 10th century had grown to possibly the largest city in Europe. It was recaptured by Christian forces in 1236, during the Reconquista.