Córdoba: the Jesuit Block and the colonial university

Founded in 1613, the National University of Córdoba is among the oldest in the Americas and is part, together with the Church of the Company of Jesus, of the Manzana Jesuítica UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000.

Just steps away, the Cabildo, seat of the colonial government overlooking Plaza San Martín, still preserves eighteenth-century architectural features despite numerous renovations.

Right next to it, the Cathedral of Córdoba blends different styles — Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical — resulting from almost a century of construction work that was never entirely consistent with itself.

In the afternoon, the Paseo del Buen Pastor, a former convent and women's prison converted in 2007, today hosts art galleries and outdoor events.

The cells of the Buen Pastor, where female prisoners lived until just decades ago, today overlook a courtyard filled with outdoor cafés: few other buildings in the city tell such a radical story of transformation.

Studying at the National University of Córdoba in the 1600s meant following a path nearly identical to that of a European university of the same period, an anomaly for South America at the time.