The Alpha-Bestiary
U is for Ursula,
A unicorn from Uruguay
Who undulated in ecstasy near Montevideo.
An urchin observed her in wonder,
And hailed her with ululating halloos.
Ursula, understandably unnerved,
Evacuated Uruguay for Buenos Aires.
U is for Ursula,
A unicorn from Uruguay
Who undulated in ecstasy near Montevideo.
An urchin observed her in wonder,
And hailed her with ululating halloos.
Ursula, understandably unnerved,
Evacuated Uruguay for Buenos Aires.
Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre (City of Our Lady St. Mary of the Fair Winds) was founded on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata by Pedro de Mendoza in 1536. However the site was abandoned in 1542 due to attacks by local tribes. It was refounded in 1580 by Juan de Garay, capitán general of Perú (who had founded Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz on the Paraná river in 1573) and renamed it Ciudad de la Trinidad (City of the Trinity), though its port was still Santa Maria de Buenos Ayres. Between 1680 and 1683, Portugal founded Colonia do Sacramento in the region across the bay from Buenos Aires, and Bruno Mauricio de Zabala was named capitán general of the Río de la Plata in 1717 to counter Portuguese claims to the area. In 1723 the Portuguese began to fortify elevations around Montevideo bay, causing the capitán general to construct a fortress on the northeastern bank of the river in 1724; this settlement evolved into the city of Montevideo, Buenos Aires' main commercial rival. Several dependencies of Perú were reorganized as the Virreinato del Río de la Plata (Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) in 1776, which eventually became the independent countries of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
ReplyDeleteBuenos Aires was chosen as the capital. During the Revolución de Mayo of 1810, the 1st successful revolution in the process of South American independence, the Spanish colonial government moved to Montevideo, which was unsuccessfully besieged by gaucho José Gervasio Artigas and the Junta Grande of Buenos Aires the following year. The Spanish governor was finally expelled in 1814, and Argentina formally announced its independence in 1816. Portugal invaded the area in 1816 and annexed part of it to the Banda Oriental of Brasil in 1821, with Montevideo as capital of the Cisplatina province. Juan Antonio Lavalleja regained the independence of the region in 1825. Uruguay was consolidated as an independent state in 1828, with Montevideo as the nation's capital.