Montevideo Journals

Montevideo (Part 2)

A January 2008 trip to Montevideo by statesidecruiser

Montevideo Mall Photo - Montevideo, Uruguay

Quote: Montevideo's history is littered with wars. It was created as a buffer state (almost a city state) between Argentina and Brazil.

4 Photos

Montevideo (Part 2)

Overview

Quote:

Montevideo's history is littered with wars. It was created as a buffer state (almost a city state) between Argentina and Brazil with the quiet complicity of the British, who wanted to ensure regular use of the finest natural harbor in South America. Consequently, it was originally a fortified settlement, and upon reaching the open central square of the town, Plaza Independenza, the eye is drawn to a great fortified gate of the city, which used to house a drawbridge over the moat. The original was destroyed but this is a faithful reconstruction. The drawbridge and the moat have long since departed and the gate is stranded on a roundabout, and reached only with determination by crossing a wide road and dodging the buses, and black and yellow taxis that buzz around it like wasps.

This is Montevideo's oldest square and the locals use this grassy area as an impromptu park in the dusty, somewhat scruffy central area. In the center of the square stands a statue which is a monument to Jose Gervasio Artigas, Uruguay's revered hero, who called for an armed insurgency against Brazil, which invaded in 1811, in the period leading up to the declaration of true independence in 1830. The square also houses his mausoleum.

The Radisson hotel in this square is convenient, as public toilets do not exist. On one corner of the square is a strange Gothic building with a sinister majesty, the Salvo Palace. It has a single corner turret that suggests it is about to take off like a spaceship. Apparently built at great expense as a luxury hotel, it quickly went bankrupt, and is now used as offices and private apartments. Near the square are two museums, Museo J Torres Garcia and Museo Historico Natural, which is an excellent example of 19th century local architecture. This latter consists of an amalgam of four old private houses of military families that have been restored and put to public use.

The main street, Avenida 18 de Julio, is on the opposite side of the square from the gate, and used to be the chic shopping strip. Now that there are brand new shopping malls such as Punta Carretas dotting the town perimeter, the shops have deteriorated. However, leather goods and shoes are still for sale, along with a selection of jewelry. There are also some unattractive eateries.

At this point the pedestrian is aware that there is sea on both sides at a distance, and it must be remembered that this is all a promontory, a thin strip jutting out in the River Platte. Apparently, the difference between the River Platte and the sea is the color. When the water is brown and muddy you are at the river, when it is mixed -sometimes brown, sometime muddy- you are at the estuary, and when it is blue: that is the sea.

Quick Tips:

The small buzzing taxi cabs are relatively cheap, but it is wise to establish a price, either in local currency or dollars, before commencing any trip. A short ride from the square will return you to the port area, if fatigue prevents walking, or you can go off to the main government building, a miniature but magnificent sort of parliament. The Legislative Palace was started in the early part of the 20th century and inaugurated in 1925. I visited it on a city coach tour, but it can be reached by cab.

This building is where this tiny country of 3 million houses its Representatives and Senators in two impressive Chambers containing long debating tables and important looking chairs. Like every earlier legislative establishment that springs to mind, it sits high above a very wide flight of magnificent stone steps, and is guarded by colorful soldiers in their antique green and white uniforms, a perfect photo opportunity. Although smallish, its interior is neat but magnificent, adorned with massive columns and perhaps 50 types of colored marble. Painted murals at each end of the ceiling glorify the country and its arts and learning. The walls are covered in historical paintings depicting the birth of the state in the early 19th century. Special stained glass windows were imported from Italy. Because of the fragility of the paintings and artifacts, flash photography is strictly forbidden and police are readily available throughout the edifice to enforce the ban. The national library is also housed here, and is open to all Uruguayans. On a sunny day, by standing on the balcony at the rear of the place, the visitor achieves a very good panorama out over part of the city.

From this area, it is also possible to reach various open spaces and parks by cab, although these are probably more economically visited on a city tour coach. Prado is the city's oldest park, containing a magnificent rose garden. Also dotted around the city there are numerous bronze statues and monumental obelisks of which the locals are rightly proud. They glorify people like Garibaldi who helped South America and some local heroes, especially Artigas, but they also revere the animals which dominate the country and the economy. For the 3 million inhabitants there is something like 18 million cattle and sheep.

Best Way To Get Around:

In one park is the well-known statue of a stagecoach being dragged by exhausted animals from the mud into which it has become stuck. It may well be historically accurate, but the locals regard it as a metaphor for the animals dragging the country and its inhabitants out of its dark past by sustaining the economy, or dragging the people from their unenlightened past into their current brave new world. The educated folk are certainly aware of their country’s historical shortcomings. For instance, all the natives in the region they killed or driven out. This explains the lack of South American or native Indian culture in the buildings or the arts, since the population for well over a hundred years has been predominantly European, and today 93% of all inhabitants trace their roots back to Europe.

This European influence is felt even more keenly along the coast. Turning right outside the port area and travelling a couple of miles brings the traveler to the dormitory beach resort area of Corasco. The road here is lined with modern apartment blocks and better quality restaurants, and some villas from the earlier parts of the 20th century. Here, where there is a beach on one side of the wide boulevard, live those who are retired as well as some more affluent city residents. There are no skyscrapers, and the modest height of the apartment blocks makes this a most appealing environment. Where the boulevard curves inland slightly, there is an enclave of seaside villas close to the water. This was laid out by a Frenchman in the last century, and it immediately reminds the traveler of Le Toucquet in Northern France.

Near the yacht club area are wooded grassland areas offering vantage points which give panoramic views along the shore back to the grey of the city, but also further along to the beach resorts which are becoming new destinations for tourists seeking beach holidays away from mass tourism.

I cannot close without mentioning Casa Mario, the leather 'factory'. Alongside each arriving cruise ship sit ranks of little minibuses into which visitors are invited for a free shuttle to Casa Mario, in a particularly bleak little street off the main highway, left turn outside the port area. Read Less