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MONTEVIDEO, SAN FELIPE Y SANTIAGO DE

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 779 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MONTEVIDEO, See also:SAN FELIPE Y See also:SANTIAGO DE , See also:capital and See also:chief See also:port of See also:Uruguay, and capital of the See also:department of See also:Monte-video, on the See also:northern See also:shore of the Rio de la See also:Plata See also:estuary, 120 M. E.S.E. of Buenos Ayres, in See also:lat. 340 54' 33" S., See also:long. 56° 12' 18" W. Pop. (1908, estimate), 312,946. The old See also:city (See also:ciudad vieja) occupies a See also:low rocky headland that projects westward between the estuary and an almost circular See also:bay which forms the See also:harbour; it was once enclosed with walls and defended by small forts, all of which have been removed. The new city (ciudad nueva and ciudad novisima) extends eastward over a beautiful See also:tract of See also:rolling See also:country and is extending See also:north-See also:ward around the eastern shore of the bay. The site of the old city resembles a See also:whale's back in shape; it slopes gently to its western extremity at Punta Sarandi and to the See also:water's edge on either See also:side. The See also:general See also:plan is that of rectangular squares, except at the western extremity of the old city and its See also:union with the newer or extra-mural city, on the See also:line of the old See also:ram-parts, known as Calle de la Ciudadela. The streets. are well paved and have sufficient slope at all points to give easy See also:surface drainage; Montevideo has the reputation of being one of the cleanest cities of the See also:world. The rainfall is ample (about 44 in. a See also:year), and the prevailing winds help to clean the streets.

The See also:

westerly winds, however, sometimes bring across the bay the offensive smells of the See also:great abattoirs and See also:meat-curing establishments (saladeros) at the See also:foot of the Cerro. The mean See also:annual temperature is about 62° F. An abundant water See also:supply is brought from the See also:Santa See also:Lucia See also:River, 32 M. distant, with areceiving See also:reservoir at Piedras, See also:loo ft. above the level of the Plaza de la Independencia. The ciudad vieja is largely devoted to commercial, See also:shipping and See also:financial interests. The See also:government edifices, large See also:retail shops and most of the See also:fine See also:urban residences are in the ciudad nueva, while most of the urban See also:industries, the railway stations and the dwellings of the poorer classes are in the ciudad novisima. Beyond these is a fringe of suburbs (La Union and Paso Molino), and on the western side of the bay is the straggling suburb of Cerro, largely See also:industrial in See also:character. In 1908 eight See also:tramway lines (all electric but one) extended out to these suburbs, some of the lines extending to the bathing resorts of Ramirez and Pocitos and the Buceo cemeteries on the eastern See also:coast. The See also:principal See also:street, which is considered one of the finest boulevards in See also:South See also:America, is the Calle 18 de Julio, extending eastward from the Plaza de la Independencia to the suburb of See also:Cordon; one of its features is its See also:Sunday See also:morning See also:market, occupying the whole street from the Plaza de la Independencia to the Plaza See also:Libertad, a distance of See also:half a mile—a survival of the old market that existed here at the fortified entrance to the walled See also:town in the earlier years of its See also:history. There are seven plazas, or squares, within the urban limits: Zabala or Rincon, Constitucibn or Matriz, Independencia, Libertad or Cagancha, Treinte y Tres, See also:Flores and Frutos; and two suburban parks or public gardens: the Paseo del Prado and Parque Urbano. The Plaza de la Independencia stands at the junction of the old and new towns and is the centre of the city's See also:political and social See also:life. This square is distinguished for a See also:uniform and nearly completed line of colonnades in front of the buildings surrounding it. The Paseo del Prado, which ranks high among the public gardens of South America, is beautifully situated beyond the suburb of Paso Molino, 3 M. from the city.

The Paseo was originally the quinta of a See also:

German of cultivated tastes named See also:Joseph .Buschenthal, who spent a See also:fortune in its adornment. The Parque Urbano, at the See also:Playa Ramirez bathing resort, is a See also:modern creation. The buildings of Montevideo are chiefly of See also:brick and broken See also:stone, covered outside with See also:plaster and See also:stucco, of one to three storeys, with See also:flat See also:roofs, usually surmounted by a square See also:tower, or mirador. The roofs, or azoteas, are largely used for domestic purposes, or roof gardens. The city contains a large number of handsome edifices, both public and private, among which are the Bolsa, Government See also:House, municipal See also:hall, See also:cathedral, Cabildo, See also:Hospital de Caridad, insane See also:asylum, See also:Italian hospital, Teatro See also:Solis, See also:Athenaeum, and the See also:Club Uruguayo. The Bolsa (See also:exchange), See also:custom-house, cathedral, and Cabildo are in the old town; the Bolsa is a copy of the See also:Bordeaux exchange. The cathedral faces on the Plaza de la Constituci6n. Its two square towers rise 133 ft. above the See also:pavement, and these, with the large See also:dome behind, rise far above the surrounding buildings and make a very conspicuous landmark. The See also:church was consecrated in 1804, and in 1868 was raised to the dignity of a cathedral. Montevideo is now the seat of a small archiepiscopal see with only two See also:suffragan dioceses. Directly across the plaza is the old Cabildo, a See also:plain, heavy-looking two-storeyed edifice of the colonial See also:period, the seat of municipal See also:administration during See also:Spanish See also:rule, but now occupied by the two See also:chambers of the Uruguayan See also:Congress and by the higher See also:police authorities of the city. The See also:people of Montevideo maintain more than See also:forty charitable associations, including the Caridad (charity) hospital on Calle 25 de See also:Mayo, and the insane asylum in the suburb of La Union, both built and largely supported from the proceeds of frequent lottery drawings.

They also maintain a beggars' asylum and a foundlings' asylum. The See also:

national museum (founded in 1830) and public library (founded 1833) are in one wing of the Solis See also:theatre. There are a See also:British hospital (founded 1857, the See also:present edifice dating from 1867) chiefly for the use of sailors, an See also:Anglican church in Calle Santa Teresa dating from 1847, and a handsome Italian hospital of modern construction. The university, in Calle Uruguay, has faculties of See also:law, See also:medicine, letters, See also:mathematics, See also:engineering, and some See also:minor See also:groups of studies, including See also:agriculture and veterinary See also:science. The government maintains two normal See also:schools, a school of arts and trades (artes y oficios), and a military school. The harbour of Montevideo consists of a shallow bay, circular in shape and about 2+, M. from shore to shore, and an See also:outer roadstead exposed to the violent winds of this See also:latitude, where the larger ocean-going steamers were compelled to See also:anchor before the construction of the new port See also:works. In 1899 the Uruguayan government entered into, a See also:contract for the dredging of the bay, the construction of two long breakwaters, the dredging of a channel to deep water, and the construction of a great See also:basin and docks in front of the city. Surtaxes were imposed on imports and exports to meet the See also:expenditure, and See also:work was begun in 1901. In 1908 the breakwaters and the greater See also:part of the dredging had been completed, and the en-See also:trance channel, with a minimum See also:depth of 241- ft., permitted the See also:admission of large steamers. Another important improvement, for which a concession was given to an See also:English See also:syndicate and work was begun in 1909, is the construction of an See also:embankment and new shore line on the south side of the city, to be finished in five years at a cost of $7,211,116. There are three large dry docks connected with the port, known as the See also:Mafia (275 ft. long, inside) and the Gounouilhou (300 ft.) on the See also:east side of the bay, and See also:Jackson & Cibils (45o ft.) on the See also:west side at the foot of the Cerro. Four See also:railways terminate at Montevideo, one of them (the Central Uruguay) extending to the Brazilian' frontier.

In 1908 20 lines of ocean-going steamers made See also:

regular calls at the port and several lines of river steamers ran to Buenos Aires and the ports of the See also:Parana, See also:Paraguay and Uruguay See also:rivers. The exports consist 'chiefly of livestock, jerked See also:beef, hides, See also:wool, and other See also:animal products, See also:wheat, See also:flour, See also:corn, See also:linseed, See also:barley, See also:hay, See also:tobacco, sealskins, See also:fruit, vegetables, and some minor products. Manufactures exist only to a limited extent and chiefly for domestic See also:consumption. The suburbs of Montevideo include the fashionable bathing resorts of Playa Ramirez and Pocitos on the coast east of the city, the inland suburbs of Paso Molino and La Union, and the industrial town of Cerro, across the bay. The Flores See also:Island See also:quarantine station is 12 m. east of the city. The station was formerly on See also:Rat Island (within the bay), which is now used as a public See also:deposit for inflammables. The chief point of See also:interest in this suburb is the conical See also:hill known as the Cerro, or " See also:mount," from which the city takes its name, on which stands an old Spanish fort, sometimes garrisoned and sometimes used for the incarceration of political prisoners. Its See also:elevation is 486 ft. (See also:Reclus), and a lighthouse rises from within the fort carrying a revolving See also:light that can be seen 25 M. at See also:sea. Montevideo was founded in 1726 through the efforts of See also:Don Mauricio Zabala, See also:governor of Buenos Aires, who wished to check the advance of the Portuguese on this side of the La Plata. A small military See also:post had existed there since 1717, but efforts to create a town had been fruitless until Zabala offered to make hidalgos of the first settlers and to give them See also:cattle and See also:sheep. The first families to accept this offer came from the See also:Canary Islands in 1726 under the direction of Don Francisco Alzeibar; they were followed by others from See also:Andalusia and some of the Spanish-See also:American settlements.

Its growth at first was slow, but on the abolition of the See also:

Cadiz See also:monopoly in 1778 it became a See also:free port and its See also:trade increased so rapidly that it soon became one of the chief commercial centres of South America. The city was captured in 1807 by a British expedition under See also:Sir See also:Samuel See also:Auchmuty, but was abandoned when the expedition against Buenos Aires under General See also:Whitelocke was defeated. In 1808 the governor of Montevideo established an See also:independent See also:junta, but after the Buenos Aires See also:declaration of See also:independence in 1810 the Spanish forces were concentrated in Montevideo and held it until expelled in 1814 by the See also:Argentine See also:land and sea forces under General Alvear and See also:Admiral See also:Brown. The dissensions following the See also:expulsion of the Spanish and the rivalries of See also:Argentina and See also:Brazil over the See also:possession of Uruguay, then commonly termed the "See also:Banda See also:Oriental," greatly reduced the See also:population of the city and partially destroyed its trade. It was made the capital of the See also:republic in 1828 and had partially recovered its population and trade when the disastrous struggle with See also:Rosas, See also:dictator of Buenos Aires, See also:broke out and the city was subjected to a nine years' See also:siege (1843—52), the investment being conducted by General Oribe, and the See also:defence by General Paz. In 1864—1865 Brazil intervened in the affairs of the republic, blockaded the port, and reinstated ex-See also:president Flores. The See also:war with Paraguay that followed, which lasted until 1870, made Montevideo the See also:base of supplies for the Brazilian See also:army and See also:navy and added largely to its trade and See also:wealth. The valuation of the city and suburbs, which was $14,156,000 in 1860, was $74,000,000 in 1872. In addition to the reckless See also:speculation of this period, there were continued political dissensions, repeated dictatorships and financial mismanagement on the part of the government. Not the least of these burdens were the See also:personal and irregular drafts of some of the executives upon the See also:treasury and See also:revenue See also:officers, particularly the custom-house of this port, upon which the republic depended for the See also:major part of its revenue. The commercial and financial collapse that followed lasted through the greater part of the last three decades of the See also:century; but settled government and improved finances subsequently contributed to a slow but steady recovery in the trade and industrial activities of the city.

End of Article: MONTEVIDEO, SAN FELIPE Y SANTIAGO DE

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