Montevideo

Montevideo (Spanish pronunciation: [monteβiˈðeo]) is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento. According to the census of 2004, Montevideo has a population of 1,325,968 (about half of Uruguay’s population).[8] It has an area of 530 square kilometres (200 sq mi) and extends 20 kilometres (12 mi) from west to east. The southernmost cosmopolitan capital city in the Americas and third most southern in the world, it is situated in the southern coast of the country, on the northeastern bank of the Río de la Plata (Spanish: “Silver River”) — which is often referred to in English-speaking countries as the River Plate. The city was under brief British rule in 1807 and was involved in the first major naval battle in the Second World War: the Battle of the River Plate. It is also the place where the Montevideo convention was signed, in 1933, by nineteen nations of the Americas. The city hosted all 1st FIFA World Cup matches in 1930. Montevideo has a rich architectural and cultural heritage, the latter including tango and candombe. According to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, in 2007 Montevideo provided the highest quality of life in Latin America . Described as a “vibrant, eclectic place with a rich cultural life”, it is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay: its first university, the Universidad de la República, was founded in 1849.The architecture of Montevideo, considered unrivalled[by whom?] in South America, reflects its history, ranging from colonial to Art Deco, and influenced by Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and British immigrants .

Etymology

There exist various explanations about the word Montevideo. All agree that “Monte” refers to the Cerro de Montevideo, the hill situated across the Bay of Montevideo, but there is disagreement about the etymological origin of the term “video”.

Cerro de Montevideo as seen from the city, in 1865.
Monte Vidi – This hypothesis comes from the “Diario de Navegación” (Navigational Calendar) of boatswain Francisco de Albo, member of the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes, who wrote, “Tuesday of the said (month of January 1520) we were on the straits of Cape Santa María (now Punta del Este), from where the coast runs East to West, and the terrain is sandy, and at the right of the cape there is a mountain like a hat to which we gave the name “Montevidi”.” This is the oldest Spanish document which mentions the promontory with a name similar to the one that designates the city, but which doesn’t contain any mention of the alleged cry “Monte vide eu”.
Monte vide eu (“I saw a mount”) – is the most widespread hypothesis, but is rejected by the majority of experts, who consider it unlikely because it involves a mix of different dialects. The name would come from a Portuguese expression which means “I saw a mount”, wrongly pronounced by an anonymous sailor belonging to the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes on catching sight of the Cerro de Montevideo.
“Monte-VI-D-E-O”.’ (Monte V’I De Este a Oeste) – according to Rolando Laguarda Trías, professor of History, the Spaniards annotated the geographic location on a map or Portolan chart, so that the mount/hill is the VI (6th) mount observable on the coast, navigating Río de la Plata from East to West.[8][14][15] With the passing of time, these words were unified to “Montevideo”. No conclusive evidence has been found to confirm this academic hypothesis, nor can it be asserted with certainty which were the other five mounts observable before the Cerro.
Monte Ovidio (Monte Santo Ovidio), a less widespread hypothesis of a religious origin.,[12] stems from an interpolation in the aforementioned Diario de Navegación of Fernando de Albo, where it is asserted “corruptly now called Santo Vidio” when they refer to the hat-like mount which they named Monte Vidi (that is, the Cerro de Montevideo). Ovidio (Saint Ovidius) was the third bishop of the Portuguese city of Braga, where he was always revered; a monument to him was erected there in 1505. Given the relationship that the Portuguese had with the discovery and foundation of Montevideo, and despite the fact that this hypothesis, like the previous ones, lacks conclusive documentation, there have been those who linked the name of Santo Ovidio or Vidio (appearing on some maps of the time) with the subsequent derivation of the name “Montevideo” given to the region since the early years of the 16th century.

History

Early history

Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata at the beginning of the 17th century.
Between 1680 and 1683, Portugal founded the city of Colonia do Sacramento in the region across the bay from Buenos Aires. This city met with no resistance from the Spanish until 1723, when they began to place fortifications on the elevations around Montevideo Bay. On 22 November 1723, Field Marshall Manuel de Freytas Fonsecs of Portugal built the Montevieu fort.
A Spanish expedition was sent from Buenos Aires, organized by the Spanish governor of that city, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala. On 22 January 1724, the Spanish forced the Portuguese to abandon the location and started populating the city, initially with six families moving in from Buenos Aires and soon thereafter by families arriving from the Canary Islands who were called by the locals “guanches,” “guanchos” or “canarios”. There was also one significant early Italian resident by the name of Jorge Burgues.
A census of the city’s inhabitants was performed in 1724 and then a plan was drawn delineating the city and designating it as San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo, later shortened to Montevideo. The census counted fifty families of Galician and Canary Islands origin, more than 1000 indigenous, mostly Guaraní and a number of Africans of Bantú origin as slaves.
A few years after its foundation, Montevideo became the main city of the region north of the Río de la Plata and east of the Uruguay River, competing with Buenos Aires for dominance in maritime commerce. The importance of Montevideo as the main port of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata brought it in confrontations with the city of Buenos Aires in various occasions, including several times when it was taken over to be used as a base to defend the eastern province of the Viceroyalty from Portuguese incursions.
In 1776, Spain made Montevideo its main naval base (Real Apostadero de Marina) for the South Atlantic, with authority over the Argentine coast, Fernando Po, and the Falklands.
Until the end of the 18th century, Montevideo remained a fortified area, today known as Ciudad Vieja.

19th century

On 3 February 1807, British troops under the command of General Samuel Auchmuty and Admiral Charles Stirling occupied the city during the Battle of Montevideo (1807), but it was recaptured by the Spanish in the same year on 2 September when John Whitelocke was forced to surrender to troops formed by forces of the Banda Oriental—roughly the same area as modern Uruguay—and of Buenos Aires. After this conflict, the governor of Montevideo Francisco Javier de Elío opposed the new viceroy Santiago de Liniers, and created a government Junta when the Peninsular War started in Spain, in defiance of Liniers. Elío disestablished the Junta when Liniers was replaced by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros.
During the May Revolution of 1810 and the subsequent uprising of the provinces of Rio de la Plata, the Spanish colonial government moved to Montevideo. During that year and the next, Uruguayan revolutionary José Gervasio Artigas united with others from Buenos Aires against Spain. In 1811, the forces deployed by the Junta Grande of Buenos Aires and the gaucho forces led by Artigas started a siege of Montevideo, which had refused to obey the directives of the new authorities of the May Revolution. The siege was lifted at the end of that year, when the military situation started deteriorating in the Upper Peru region.
The Spanish governor was expelled in 1814. In 1816, Portugal invaded the recently liberated territory and in 1821, it was annexed to the Banda Oriental of Brazil. Juan Antonio Lavalleja and his band called the Treinta y Tres Orientales (“Thirty-Three Orientals”) re-established the independence of the region in 1825. Uruguay was consolidated as an independent state in 1828, with Montevideo as the nation’s capital. In 1829, the demolition of the city’s fortifications began and plans were made for an extension beyond the Ciudad Vieja, referred to as the “Ciudad Nueva” (“new city”). Urban expansion, however, moved very slowly because of the events that followed.]

Map of Montevideo during the Guerra Grande (1843–1851).
Uruguay’s 1830s were dominated by the confrontation between Manuel Oribe and Fructuoso Rivera, the two revolutionary leaders who had fought against the Empire of Brazil under the command of Lavalleja, each of whom had become the cacique of their respective faction.[22] Politics were divided between Oribe’s Blancos (“whites”), represented by the National Party, and Rivera’s Colorados (“reds”), represented by the Colorado Party, with each party’s name taken from the colour of its emblems. In 1838, Oribe was forced to resign the presidency; he established a rebel army and began a long civil war, the Guerra Grande, which lasted until 1851.

The city of Montevideo suffered a siege of eight years between 1843 and 1851, during which it was supplied by sea with English and French support.Oribe, with the support of the then conservative Governor of Buenos Aires Province Juan Manuel de Rosas, besieged the Colorados in Montevideo, where the latter were supported by the French Legion, the Italian Legion, the Basque Legion and battalions from Brazil. Finally, in 1851, with the additional support of Argentine rebels who opposed Rosas, the Colorados defeated Oribe. The fighting, however, resumed in 1855, when the Blancos came to power, which they maintained until 1865. Thereafter, the Colorado Party regained power, which they retained until past the middle of the 20th century.
After the end of hostilities, a period of growth and expansion started for the city. In 1853 a stagecoach bus line was established joining Montevideo with the newly formed settlement of Unión and the first natural gas street lights were inaugurated. From 1854 to 1861 the first public sanitation facilities were constructed. In 1856 the Teatro Solís was inaugurated, 15 years after the beginning of its construction. At the end of 1861 the areas of Aguada and Cordón were incorporated to the growing New City (Ciudad Nueva). In 1866, an underwater telegraph line connected the city with Buenos Aires. The statue of Peace, La Paz, was erected on a column in Plaza Cagancha and the building of the Postal Service as well as the bridge of Paso Molino were inaugurated in 1867.
In 1868, the horse-drawn tram company Compañía de Tranvías al Paso del Molino y Cerro created the first lines connecting Montevideo with Unión, the beach resort of Capurro and the industrialized and economically independent Villa del Cerro, at the time called Cosmopolis. In the same year, the Mercado del Puerto was inaugurated. In 1869, the first railway line of the company Ferrocarril Central del Uruguay was inaugurated connecting Bella Vista with the town of Las Piedras. During the same year and the next, the neighbourhoods Colón, Nuevo París and La Comercial were founded. The famous to our days Sunday market of Tristán Narvaja Street was established in Cordón in 1870. Public water supply was etsablished in 1871. In 1878, Bulevar Circunvalación was constructed, a boulevard starting from Punta Carretas, going up to the north end of the city and then turning east to end at the beach of Capurro. It was renamed to Artigas Boulevard (its actual name) in 1885.
The first telephone lines were installed in 1882 and electric street lights took the place of the gas operated ones in 1886. The Hipódromo de Maroñas started operating in 1888, and the neighbourhoods of Reus del Sur, Reus del Norte and Conciliación were inaugurated in 1889. The new building of the School of Arts and Trades, as well as Zabala Square in Ciudad Vieja were inaugurated in 1890, followed by the Italian Hospital in 1891. In the same year, the village of Peñarol was founded in 1891. Other neighbourhoods that were founded were Belgrano and Belvedere in 1892, Jacinto Vera in 1895 and Trouville in 1897. In 1894 the new port was constructed, and in 1897, the Central Railway Station of Montevideo was inaugurated.

20th century

Plaza Independencia around 1900.
In the early 20th century, many Europeans (particularly Spaniards and Italians but also thousands from Central Europe) immigrated to the city. In 1908, 30% of the city’s population of 300,000 was foreign-born. In that decade the city expanded quickly: new neighbourhoods were created and many separate settlements were annexed to the city, among which were the Villa del Cerro, Pocitos, the Prado and Villa Colón. The Rodó Park and the Estadio Gran Parque Central were also established, which served as poles of urban development.
During the early 20th century, Uruguay saw huge social changes with repercussions primarily in urban areas. Among these changes were the right of divorce (1907) and women’s right to vote.
The 1910s saw the construction of Montevideo’s Rambla; strikes by tram workers, bakers and port workers; the inauguration of electric trams; the creation of the Municipal Intendencias; and the inauguration of the new port.
In 1913, the city limits were extended around the entire gulf. The previously independent localities of the Villa del Cerro and La Teja were annexed to Montevideo, becoming two of its neighborhoods.
During the 1920s, the equestrian statue of Artigas was installed in Plaza Independencia; the Palacio Legislativo was built; the Spanish Plus Ultra flying boat arrived (the first airplane to fly from Spain to Latin America, 1926); prominent politician and former president José Batlle y Ordóñez died (1929); and ground was broken (1929) for the Estadio Centenario (completed 1930).
During World War II, a famous incident involving the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee took place in Punta del Este, 200 kilometers (120 mi) from Montevideo. After the Battle of the River Plate with the Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy on 13 December 1939, the Graf Spee retreated to Montevideo’s port, which was considered neutral at the time. To avoid risking the crew in what he thought would be a losing battle, Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled the ship on 17 December. Langsdorff committed suicide two days later.[citation needed] The eagle figurehead of the Graf Spee was salvaged on 10 February 2006; to protect the feelings of those still sensitive to Nazi Germany, the swastika on the figurehead was covered as it was pulled from the water.

An old colonial feel to a street in Montevideo’s Ciudad Vieja.
Uruguay began to stagnate economically in the mid-1950s; Montevideo began a decline, later exacerbated widespread social and political violence beginning in 1968 (including the emergence of the guerrilla Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros and by the Civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay (1973-1985). There were major problems with supply; the immigration cycle was reversed.
From the 1960s to the end of the dictatorship in 1985, around one hundred people died or disappeared because of the political violence. From 1974 another hundred Uruguayans disappeared also in Argentina. In 1980, the dictatorship proposed a new constitution. The project was submitted to referendum and rejected in the first polls since 1971, with 58% of the votes against and 42% in favour. The result weakened the military and triggered its fall, allowing the return of democracy.
In the 1980s, Pope John Paul II visited the city twice. In April 1987, while head of state of Vatican, he signed a mediation agreement for the conflict of the Beagle Channel. He also held a large mass in Tres Cruces, declaring the cross located behind the altar as a monument. In 1988, he returned to the country, visiting Montevideo, Florida, Salto and Melo.
21st century
In 2002, Uruguay suffered one of the worst banking crises in its history, which affected all sectors of Montevideo. Recently, economic improvement and stronger commercial links with neighbouring countries has contributed to economic development.
In April 2006, Montevideo was named by Mercer Human Resources Consulting as the Latin American city with the best quality of life, in 76th place overall among 350 cities worldwide.

Panorama
Geography

Montevideo is situated on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the south coast of Uruguay from the north coast of Argentina; Buenos Aires lies 230 kilometres (140 mi) west on the Argentine side. The Santa Lucía River forms a natural border between Montevideo and San José Department to its west. To the city’s north and east is Canelones Department, with the stream of Carrasco forming the eastern natural border. The coastline forming the city’s southern border is interspersed with rocky protrusions and sandy beaches. The Bay of Montevideo forms a natural harbour, the nation’s largest and one of the largest in the Southern Cone, and the finest natural port in the region, functioning as a crucial component of the Uruguayan economy and foreign trade. Various streams criss-cross the town and empty into the Bay of Montevideo. The coastline and rivers are heavily polluted and of high salinity.
The city has an average elevation of 43 metres (141 ft). Its highest elevations are two hills: the Cerro de Montevideo and the Cerro de la Victoria, with the highest point, the peak of Cerro de Montevideo, crowned by a fortress, the Fortaleza del Cerro at a height of 134 metres (440 ft).[36] Closest cities by road are Las Piedras to the north and the so called Ciudad de la Costa (a conglomeration of coastal towns) to the east, both in the range of 20 to 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the city center. The approximate distances to the neighbouring department capitals by road are, 90 kilometres (56 mi) to San Jose de Mayo (San Jose Department) and 46 kilometres (29 mi) to Canelones (Canelones Department).

Playa del Cerro de Montevideo
Climate
Montevideo enjoys a mild humid subtropical climate (Cfa, according to the Köppen climate classification) and it borders on an oceanic climate (Cfb). The city has cool winters, warm summers and volatile springs; there are numerous thunderstorms but no tropical cyclones. Due to its location in the southern hemisphere, its seasons are opposite to those of the Northern hemisphere; summer runs from December to March, followed by autumn in April and May; winter lasts from June to September, and spring is in October and November.[37] Rainfall is regular and evenly spread throughout the year, reaching around a 800 millimetres (31 in).
Winters are generally wet, windy and overcast, while summers are hot and humid with relatively little wind. In winter there are bursts of icy and relatively dry winds and continental polar air masses, giving an unpleasant chilly feeling to the everyday life of the city. In the summer, a moderate wind often blows from the sea in the evenings which has a pleasant cooling effect on the city, in contrast to the unbearable summer heat of Buenos Aires.
Montevideo has an annual average temperature of 16 °C (61 °F). The lowest recorded temperature is −5.6 °C (22 °F) while the highest is 42.8 °C (109.0 °F). Snowfall is extremely rare—notably, snow fell on the city in 1980—although there have been some snows in the outer metropolitan area, and sleet is a frequent winter occurrence.

Intendencia

The Municipality of Montevideo was first created by a legal act of 18 December 1908. The municipality’s first mayor (1909–1911) was Daniel Muñoz. Municipalities were abolished by the Uruguayan Constitution of 1918, effectively restored during the 1933 military coup of Gabriel Terra, and formally restored by the 1934 Constitution. The 1952 Constitution again decided to abolish the municipalities; it came into effect in February 1955. Municipalities were replaced by departmental councils, which was consisted of a collegiate executive board with 7 members from Montevideo and 5 from the interior region. However, municipalities were revived under the 1967 Constitution and have operated continuously since that time.
Since 1990, Montevideo has been partially decentralized into 18 areas; administration and services for each area is provided by its Zonal Community Center (Centro Comunal Zonal, CCZ), which is subordinate to the Municipality of Montevideo. The boundaries of the municipal districts of Montevideo were created on 12 July 1993, and successively amended on 19 October 1993, 6 June 1994 and 10 November 1994.
The city government of Montevideo performs several functions, including maintaining communications with the public, promoting culture, organizing society, caring for the environment and regulating traffic. Its headquarters is the Palacio Municipal on 18 de Julio Avenue in the Centro area of Montevideo.
Another body, the Junta Departamental, or the Parliament of Montevideo, governs the Department of Montevideo. The Junta, composed of 31 unsalaried elected members, is responsible for such things as the freedom of the citizens, the regulation of cultural activities, the naming of streets and public places, and the placement of monuments; it also responds to proposals of the Intendant in various circumstances. Its seat is the architecturally remarkable Casa de Francisco Gómez in Ciudad Vieja.
Intendants of Montevideo
Main article: Intendant of Montevideo
Daniel Muñoz (1909–1911)
Ramón V. Benzano (1911–1914)
Juan M. Aubriot (1914–1914)
Santiago Rivas (1914–1915)
Francisco Accinelli (1915–1919)
Alberto Dagnino (1933–1937)
Luis Alberto Zanzi (1937–1938)
Horacio Acosta y Lara (1938–1942)
Benigno Paiva (1942–1942)
Pedro Onetti (1942–1943)
Juan Pedro Fabini (1943–1947)
Andrés Martínez Trueba (1947–1948)
Álvaro Correa Moreno (1950–1951)
Germán Barbato (1951–1954)
Armando Malet (1954–1955)
Board members of the Concejo Departamental (1955–1967)
Glauco Segovia (1967–1967)
Carlos Bartolomé Herrera (1967–1969)
Oscar Víctor Rachetti (1969–1971)
E. Mario Peyrot (1971–1972)
Oscar Víctor Rachetti (1972–1983)
Juan Carlos Payssé (1983–1985)
Aquiles R. Lanza (1985–1985)
Julio Iglesias Álvarez (1985–1986)
Eduardo Fabini Jiménez (1989–1990)
Tabaré Vázquez (1990–1994)
Tabaré González (1994–1995)
Mariano Arana (1995–2000 / 2000–2005)
Adolfo Pérez Piera (2005)
Ricardo Ehrlich (2005–2010)
Hyara Rodríguez (2010)
Ana Olivera (2010–present)
[edit]Administrative divisions and barrios

Map of Montevideo
As of 2010, the city of Montevideo has been divided into 8 political municipalities (Municipios), referred to with the letters from A to G, including CH, each presided over by a mayor elected by the citizens registered in the constituency. This division, according to the Municipality of Montevideo, “aims to advance political and administrative decentralization in the department of Montevideo, with the aim of deepening the democratic participation of citizens in governance.”[44] The head of each Municipio is called an alcalde or (if female) alcaldesa.[45]
Of much greater importance is the division of the city into 62 barrios: neighbourhoods or wards.[46] Many of the city’s barrios—such as Sayago, Ituzaingó and Pocitos—were previously geographically separate settlements, later absorbed by the growth of the city. Others grew up around certain industrial sites, including the salt-curing works of Villa del Cerro and the tanneries in Nuevo París. Each barrio has its own identity, geographic location and socio-cultural activities. A neighbourhood of great significance is Ciudad Vieja, that was surrounded by a protective wall until 1829. This area contains most important buildings of the colonial era and early decades of independence.

Ciudad Vieja
Centro
Barrio Sur
Aguada
Villa Muñoz, Goes, Retiro
Cordón
Palermo
Parque Rodó
Tres Cruces
La Comercial
Larrañaga
La Blanqueada
Parque Batlle – Villa Dolores
Pocitos
Punta Carretas
Unión
Buceo
Malvín
Malvín Norte
Las Canteras
Punta Gorda
Carrasco
Carrasco Norte
Bañados de Carrasco
Flor de Maroñas
Maroñas – Parque Guaraní
Villa Española
Ituzaingó
Castro (or Pérez) Castellanos
Mercado Modelo, Bolívar
Brazo Oriental
Jacinto Vera
La Figurita
Reducto
Capurro, Bella Vista, Arroyo Seco
Prado – Nueva Savona
Atahualpa
Aires Puros
Paso de las Duranas
Belvedere
La Teja
Tres Ombúes – Pueblo Victoria
Villa del Cerro
Casabó, Pajas Blancas
La Paloma, Tomkinson
Paso de la Arena, Los Bulevares, Rincón del Cerro, Santiago Vázquez
Nuevo París
Conciliación
Sayago
Peñarol – Lavalleja – 40 Semanas
Colón Centro y Noroeste
Lezica, Melilla
Colón Sudeste, Abayubá
Manga, Toledo Chico
Casavalle, Barrio Borro
Cerrito
Las Acacias
Jardines del Hipódromo
Piedras Blancas
Manga
Punta de Rieles – Bella Italia
Villa García, Manga Rural