Alta Gracia
Basic data | ||
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location | 31 ° 41 ′ S , 64 ° 27 ′ W | |
Height above d. M .: | 553 m | |
Population (2001): | 42,538 | |
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administration | ||
Province : | Cordoba | |
Department : | Santa María | |
Mayor: | Mario Bonfigli, UCR | |
Others | ||
Postal code : | X5186 | |
Telephone code: | 03547 | |
Alta Gracia website |
Alta Gracia is a city in the province of Cordoba in central Argentina . It is located on the southern foothills of the Sierra Chica at the transition from this Sierra to the Sierra de los Comechingones .
Alta Gracia is the capital of the department of Santa María and has 42,600 inhabitants (2001), with its numerous suburbs, many of which are oriented towards tourism , around 60,000. It is counted as part of the conurbation of the city of Cordoba , although the development between the two cities has a gap of almost 20 kilometers.
politics
During the reign of the Peronist governor José Manuel de la Sota (1998 to 2007) the idea of moving the provincial capital from Córdoba to Alta Gracia as part of a decentralization process arose. The proposal, which became politically explosive, especially after the election of the strictly oppositional Luis Juez as mayor of Córdoba and the ensuing conflict between city and province, was never implemented.
Culture and sights
Alta Gracia is known mainly because of the Estancia of the Jesuits , which is right in the center of the city on a hill. It is a former cattle ranch whose owner joined the order and bequeathed it to the Jesuits when she died. In 1767 it was auctioned off again to a private owner. Today you can see the church, a museum in the former manor house, the El Obraje mill , which now houses a school, and the Tajamar , an artificial lake right next to the estancia in the city center.
The ranch belongs since 2000 to the World Heritage of UNESCO , together with other monuments in and around Cordoba. Also worth seeing is the Che Guevara Museum, which documents his life and also shows objects from his youth. It is housed in the parents' former home.
Personalities
The well-known revolutionary Che Guevara spent a considerable period of his childhood and youth in Alta Gracia . His house now houses a Che Guevara Museum .
In addition, the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla , after he fled Spain in 1939, lived the last years of his life in Alta Gracia, where he died in 1946. His house is now also a museum .
See also
Web links
- IFAM population data (Spanish)
- Entry in the UNESCO World Heritage List: English , French
- LiveArgentina.com - City Info (Spanish)