Melo () is the capital city of the

Cerro Largo Department Cerro Largo Department () is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay. Its capital is Melo, Uruguay, Melo. It is located in the east of the country, bordering Brazil to its northeast with Rio Yaguaron, Yaguaron River as the natural border, ...

of north-eastern

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 ...

. As of the census of 2023, it is the ninth most populated city of the country with a population of 56,013.

Geography

Location

It is located at the center of the department, on the intersection of Route 7 with Route 8, south of Aceguá and the border with Brazil. Other primary roads to the city are Route 26 and Route 44. The stream Arroyo Conventos (a tributary of Tacuarí River) flows by the west limits of the city.

Climate

Melo has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, described by the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

as ''Cfa''. Summers are warm (with hot days and cool nights) and winters are cool, with frequent

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

s and fog. The precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with an average of 1,241 mm (48.85 in), and the annual average temperature is 17 °C (63 °F). This city has the lowest recorded temperature in Uruguay, of -11 °C (12.2 °F), on June 14, 1967.Récords meteorológicos del Uruguay
Dirección Nacional de Meteorología. Retrieved 31 December 2010.

History

It was founded on 27 June 1795 by Agustín de la Rosa, an officer to the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

. It was named after Pedro Melo de Portugal, a Spanish colonial official of Portuguese royal ancestry. Given its proximity to some Portuguese colonies in Brazil, the "Melo Village" (in Spanish, "''Villa de Melo''"), as it was once named, was invaded by Portuguese forces in 1801, 1811, and 1816. With Uruguayan independence, Melo was officially declared capital of the department of Cerro Largo. In 1845, the city square was renamed in honor of

Manuel Oribe Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...

, a former

President of Uruguay The president of Uruguay (), officially known as the president of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (), is the head of state and head of government of Uruguay. The president presides over the Cabinet of Uruguay, Council of Ministers, directing ...

and a political leader of the ''White Party'' (Partido Blanco), which brought to light the relations of this corner of the country with that National Movement (the vast majority of its inhabitants have belonged to that same political community). Melo had acquired the status of "Villa" (town) before the Independence of Uruguay. Its status was elevated to "Ciudad" (city) on 22 May 1895 by the Act of Ley Nº 2.3279. It was capital of one of the nine original departments of the Republic. The historian J.C. Chasteen has discussed the place of Melo in the history of Uruguay in his book ''Heroes on Horseback: A Life and Times of the Last Gaucho Caudillos''.

Population

In 2023 Melo had a population of 56,013 inhabitants. Source: ''Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay''

Features

There are two museums: * Juana de Ibarbourou's birthplace * Regional History Museum Near Melo is situated the old '' Posta del Chuy'', a stone inn near an ancient bridge over the Chuy del Tacuarí creek. Melo was visited by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1988. This formed the background to the 2006 film '' El Baño del Papa'' (''The Pope's Toilet'') about an enterprising citizen with the ill-fated idea of making money by building a toilet and charging the hordes of Brazilians expected to visit Melo to see the Pope.

Places of worship

* Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar and St. Raphael (

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 ...

) * Parish Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Roman Catholic) * Parish Church of St. Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic) * Parish Church of St. Dominic Savio and St. Charles Borromeo (Roman Catholic, Salesians of Don Bosco) * Jesus Good Shepherd Parish Church (Roman Catholic, Sisters of Santa Dorotea di Cemmo)

Notable people

Juana de Ibarbourou Juana Fernández Morales de Ibarbourou, also known as Juana de América, (March 8, 1892 – July 15, 1979) was a Uruguayan poet and one of the most popular writers of Spanish America. Her poetry, the earliest of which is often highly erotic, is ...

(1892-1979), poet * Saviniano Pérez (1907–1985), politician

Bibliography

References

External links

INE map of Melo, Hipódromo, Barrio López Benítez and Barrio La Vinchuca
{{Authority control Populated places in the Cerro Largo Department Populated places established in 1795