Punta Carretas
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Punta Carretas is a ''
barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...
'' (neighbourhood or district) of
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
,
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
. Politically located in the Municipality CH, it is an affluent neighborhood, with a high population density and a large number of high-rise apartment buildings. It is also an area with a large presence of exclusive private schools, international stores, haute cuisine restaurants and embassies.


Geography

Punta Carretas borders
Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rodà ...
to the north and west,
Pocitos :''Pocitos is also the colloquial name for the city of Salvador Mazza, Salta, Salvador Mazza, Salta Province, Argentina'' Pocitos is an upscale seaside Barrios of Montevideo, ''barrio'' of Montevideo, Uruguay. It borders Buceo to the east, Parque B ...
to the east and northeast, and the coastline to the south. It is the southernmost neighborhood of the city. The area is bounded by
Artigas Boulevard Artigas Boulevard is a boulevard in Montevideo, Uruguay. It runs from the Rambla at Punta Carretas to the Rambla at Capurro- Bella Vista, going north for about 6.5 kilometers and turning 100° west. It is an important connection road in the Urug ...
, the Rambla to the south and west, Sarmiento Avenue to the north, and Calle Juan María Pérez to the east and northeast. Its main roads are José Ellauri and 21 de Septiembre avenues.


History

The area that the neighborhood currently occupies was named ''Punta Brava'' by sailors, due to a rock that stretches out underwater and caused several shipwrecks. Later, it was called ''Punta Carretas'', due to the shape of said rock, which resembled a cart (). In the 1870s, the 21-meter Punta Brava Lighthouse was built, which during its early years was known as "La Farola". From August 1948 it worked on electricity. Between 1880 and 1890 there was a hippodrome in the central area of the neighborhood, with a high-rise box with capacity for 1,500 people. In 1915, a 400-cell prison was inaugurated to house common and high-risk prisoners, named ''Punta Carretas Penitentiary''. In 1931 there was a jailbreak, in which a group of anarchists, including Miguel Arcángel Roscigna dug a tunnel from a business selling firewood and charcoal to the prison bathrooms so that the anarchist prisoners imprisoned for the assault on an currency exchange office in
Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...
, could escape. In September 1971, more than 110 prisoners from the
far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...
urban guerrilla group Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement escaped through a 40-meter tunnel. Despite being an area close to the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of the city, for much of the first half of the 20th century it was sparsely populated, since it was associated with poor living conditions due to the existence of a large detention center. However, starting in the 50s, people began to inhabit its surroundings, which gave birth to the district of Punta Carretas. After the end of the civil-military dictatorship, the prison was closed in 1986. In 1991 the building was bought by a real estate consortium that was in charge of remodeling it, and in 1994 the '' Punta Carretas Shopping'' mall was inaugurated. This brought in the opening of international chain hotels, haute cuisine restaurants, international clothing brands, new local business and high-rise apartments buildings to the area, which had positive impact on real estate prices, which turned the neighborhood into an upper-middle-class area of the city.


Landmarks

In the western zone is the
Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rodà ...
and the Club de Golf del Uruguay founded in 1922, on the land where a hippodrome operated in the last decades of the 19th century. On the Rambla (seaside avenue) there are a large number of apartment buildings, as well as some monuments, such as a statue of
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
, a Holocaust memorial –built in 1994– and the Pittamiglio Castle, a building built by Humberto Pittamiglio from 1911 until his death in 1966, which combines Renaissance styles, and has many characteristics of
medieval architecture Medieval architecture was the architecture, art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, Gothic. In ...
. In Punta Brava, the southernmost point of the neighborhood, stands the homonymous lighthouse. In the central area is Avenida Ellauri, the main road in the neighborhood. Throughout its extension, most businesses are concentrated, as well as the Punta Carretas Shopping mall and the Villa Biarritz Park, a green space in the middle of a highly urbanized area with a high population density, and where a flea market is held. On
Artigas Boulevard Artigas Boulevard is a boulevard in Montevideo, Uruguay. It runs from the Rambla at Punta Carretas to the Rambla at Capurro- Bella Vista, going north for about 6.5 kilometers and turning 100° west. It is an important connection road in the Urug ...
stands a neoclassical palace that houses the headquarters of Parva Domus, a civil, recreational and cultural association created in 1878, which for entertainment purposes proclaims itself as a micronational republic. In addition, in the neighborhood is the Zorrilla Museum, which exhibits belongings and documents of the Uruguayan poet Juan Zorrilla de San Martín. Inaugurated in 1943, sculptures by his son, José Luis, are also on display.


Places of worship

* Parish Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, popularly known as "Iglesia de Punta Carretas" (
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
)


See also

*
Barrios of Montevideo The city of Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, is divided into 62 ''barrios'' (neighborhoods or districts), each with its own identity, demographic characteristics and activities appropriate to the socio-cultural level of its inhabitants. The outer ...


References


External links


Intendencia de Montevideo / Useful data / Punta Carretas

Intendencia de Montevideo / Parques y Plazas / Parque Rodó
(about the park, not the barrio)

{{Barrios of Montevideo Headlands of Uruguay Barrios of Montevideo