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VIEWS FROM A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
#45 - MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
Size: 5" x 3"
Copyrighted: 1891
Lithographer: Joseph P. Knapp
  
Illustrations: Solis Theatre; Club House; Street Scene; Slave; Slave Woman
| Reverse - Text |
Left section:
GRIND
YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section: |
| MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY, S.A. |
| The Republic of Uruguay,
of which Montevideo is the
Capital, is locally called the
Banda Oriental, from its position
on the eastern side of the large
river Uruguay. Montevido lies on
the easterly side of a
semi-circular bay on the northern
shore of the estuary of the La
Plata, 120 miles from Buenos
Ayres, with which it connects by
steamers. The small peninsula on
which the city is built is only
about 95 feet above the sea
level, but the headland of Cerro,
505 feet high, forming the
western side of the bay, is
notable enough on that low-lying
coast to justify the name of
Montevideo. It is crowned by a
lighthouse and an old Spanish
fort. The city's area is about
620 acres; the suburbs extend for
miles into the country. The plan
of both the old and the new town
is regular; they are separated by
the Calle de la Cindadela on the
line of the old ramparts. The low
houses with their flat terraced
roofs and watchtowers, from which
the merchants look out for their
ships, produce a somewhat
Oriental impression. On the
whole, the place has a rather
overdone aspect, for immense
wealth has been squandered in
Italian marbles and other forms
of architectural decoration. The
streets are generally well built,
and there is an extensive tramway
system. |
| The
so-called "Cathedral"
on the south side of Plaza de la
Constitucion--the principal
square of the old town--is a
somewhat imposing building with a
dome and two side towers 133 feet
high, which form one of the best
landmarks of the bay. On the
north side of the square is the
cabildo--the law courts, senate
house and the prison. In the line
of the old ramparts, an old
Spanish citadel formerly stood,
built by the seven years forced
labor of 2,000 Quarani Indians.
It was removed in 1877 and the
area united with the fine Plaza
de la Indepencia. Montevideo owes
its origin less to its commercial
position than to the jealousy of
the Spaniards toward the
Portuguese, which led Zabala,
Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, to erect
a fort at this point in 1717. |
Population 1887, 134,346--one-
third being foreigners. |
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