Cabildo, Cordoba (must see)

The Córdoba Cabildo was the colonial town hall of Córdoba. Encinas' cabildo, which included only the Alcalde's office, living quarters and a small jail, was ordered replaced by a larger building in 1749 by the Alcade (Mayor), José Moyano Oscariz. The Governor of Córdoba appointed in 1783, the Marquess of Sobremonte, Rafael Núñez, prioritized the much delayed completion of the new Cabildo. He commissioned Juan Manuel López for the new project, which would feature a significantly larger office space, grand steps, a chapel, a patio, an archway of fifteen columns along the façade, and a covered arcade along the archway for the inclusion of storefronts. The greatly accelerated works were concluded in 1786, and would include the opening of the Santa Catalina Promenade between the cabildo and the recently built Córdoba Cathedral.

Marble cladding and a bell tower were added in 1885, though the latter was removed during the cabildo's restoration in the late 1930s, when numerous historic structures in Argentina were restored to their approximate, original design by having such additions demolished. The city government was relocated to a Renaissance Revivalist structure late in the 19th century, and to a Modernist building in the 1960s. A section of the historic cabildo remained in use by the Provincial Police Department of Information (DDI), however, and during the last dictatorship, this wing was used as one of over 300 detention centers operated by the regime during the Dirty War of the late 1970s.