Residence of Martin Ferreyra, Córdoba
The zoölogical garden at the Parque Sarmiento lies in a cleft of the ridge and was laid out in 1914 by a German engineer. It is open to the public Thursdays and Sundays and is entered by descending in a funicular or by a circuitous way on foot. Although it is planned to house many animals, the only large mammals there at present are some seals which sport beneath the spray of an artificial cascade, and a pair of lions which a Montevideo gentleman presented to an ex-governor of Córdoba, who has loaned them to the city, probably at the expense of the latter.
Church of Santa Teresa, Córdoba
Debreczen, Hungary, is nicknamed locally, "Rome of the Protestants"; Córdoba is nicknamed "Rome of Argentina" on account of its numerous churches, convents, monasteries, other religious institutions, and multitude of priests. There are several thousand of the latter body of men; they and the soldiers are not reckoned in the national census of urban population for they are constantly moving from place to place. There are fourteen large churches including the cathedral, and sixteen other Catholic Houses of God which would be considered large in the United States, but which are here classed as mediocre. In contrast with the churches of all the rest of South America, excepting those of Brazil, those of Northern Argentina are much more beautiful with their splendid façades, domes, and towers, the latter being roofed with variegated porcelain tiles; blues predominating. Córdoba, Tucumán, and Salta are especially rich in the appearance of their churches, Tucumán taking the lead in the ornateness of the tiles. In Córdoba are the large churches of Merced, Jesuit Fathers, and Santo Domingo, but by far the largest and finest church in all Argentina is the cathedral, three centuries old, its architecture being that of the current Spanish style that was in vogue at the time it was built. There are a few cathedrals in America larger, those of Montreal, Mexico City, Lima, New York, Santiago, Bahia, Montevideo, and Rio de Janeiro in order of their size, but none excel that of Córdoba in proud richness.
It is one of the finest churches in America with the best mural paintings of any. In this latter respect it is only exceeded by those of Italy. Its towers and dome are not tiled, as that art was copied from the Portuguese and Brazilians only during the last century. Decadent Romanesque, it has a solemn dignity of its own.
