Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba.
The Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca (c. 275 – 228 B) a general and father of Hannibal, conquered the area and renamed it Kartuba, (from Kart-Juba, meaning "the City of Juba"). Córdoba was conquered by the Romans in 206 BC and then by Muslim armies in the eighth century, when it became the capital of the Islamic Emirate and then Caliphate of Córdoba. It returned to Christian rule in 1236, during the Reconquista. The historic center is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.