Monday, 6 October 2014
Let me start with Uruguay. It has a population of about 3.5 million people, 12 million cows and 7 million sheep. Seriously. Besides the tango, another popular dance in Uruguay is the candombe, which is mainly percussions (drums) and dancing. This traditional dance is of African origins, it was introduced to Uruguay by the African slaves who used to be here.
Colonia has a population of about 26,000 people. Colonia was founded by Manuel Lobo, a Portuguese, in 1680. It is sometimes referred to as Colonia del Sacramento, although it's original name was much longer. For about 100 years from 1680, Colonia changed hands between Portugal and Spain, with the result that the historical centre has both Portuguese and Spanish architecture and designs. At some point the British also ruled Colonia, in the 19th century, but for a very brief time. In this time, they built railways to transport cows. I saw some railway tracks and what could have been a train station, but is now abandoned. There are now no railways in Colonia now.
Colonia has a population of about 26,000 people. Colonia was founded by Manuel Lobo, a Portuguese, in 1680. It is sometimes referred to as Colonia del Sacramento, although it's original name was much longer. For about 100 years from 1680, Colonia changed hands between Portugal and Spain, with the result that the historical centre has both Portuguese and Spanish architecture and designs. At some point the British also ruled Colonia, in the 19th century, but for a very brief time. In this time, they built railways to transport cows. I saw some railway tracks and what could have been a train station, but is now abandoned. There are now no railways in Colonia now.
Both the Portuguese and Spanish were interested in Colonia mainly for trade purposes, it's location made it a natural port suitable for trading gold and silver from Porta See (not sure of spelling), Peru. This, along with the fact that the Spanish were in Argentina as well as Montevideo (they controlled the ports and harbors in both places), made Colonia a hot spot for the Spanish, although it was founded by the Portuguese.
The first thing you see when you walk into the centre is the City Gate and the drawbridge. When the Portuguese founded this city, they built a fortification wall around the city, and the only way in and out of the city was through the drawbridge. Along these walls were canons at certain locations, and an area facing the river where soldiers stood guard. Only a small part of the wall remains, one of the presidents of Uruguay decided to destroy the wall as it was apparently ugly. According to Vanesa, this entire area was once considered a bad area, where the poor, vagrants, drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes live. Then UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1995. Overnight, property prices soared, and the poor and unwanted sold their property, made a huge profit and moved out to better neighbourhoods. Now this is one of the most expensive areas in Colonia.
Of all the houses in this area, only 5 belong to the government or municipal, and they have turned them into museums. The rest are owned by individuals, many houses have been converted into restaurants, souvenir shops etc although many of them are inhabited, with modern renovations such as the toilet. In those days (the 17th century) there were no toilets in the houses.
The city can largely be divided into the Portuguese side and the Spanish side, although in many places you can see both Portuguese and Spanish houses side by side. The Portuguese part of the city has an irregular street network. The houses are built out of stones piled together and stuck together with mud, small doors, rectangular windows, sloping roofs, drainage in the centre of the street with no sidewalks. The houses were usually painted red or yellow, bright colours. Whereas the Spanish houses were made of bricks, bigger doors, windows arched on top, straight roofs, drainage at the side of the street with sidewalks.
From the City Gate, the first street we see is the Street of Sighs, probably the first and oldest street ever built by the Portuguese in this area. No one is sure how the street got its name, but one theory is that the sailors who came to Colonia used to come to this street to look for women, and because they had been out at sea for such a long time, they would sigh at the sight of women. Here I got to go into a Portuguese house, now owned by an Uruguayan, and modified to fit in a toilet. The floors and walls are original, though. It is really a beautiful house, with a kitchen and a backyard! Just beautiful. When will I have the opportunity to live in a house like that, I wonder. Sigh. (No pun intended)
No comments:
Post a Comment