Villa Muñoz - Retiro 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 ...

, bordering Aguada and Reducto to the west, La Figurita to the north, La Comercial to the east and Cordón to the south. The neighborhood originated at the end of the 19th century, and was populated by European immigrants throughout the first half of the 20th century, especially by

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

, which led to it being known as the

Jewish quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

of Montevideo. It is an important commercial shopping district, due to the existence of a large number of Jewish-owned wholesale stores.

History

The origin of the neighborhood dates back to the late 1880s during the urban expansion of

, when the Spanish businessman Emilio Reus began to build the residential area that bears his name, Reus al Norte. For its construction, more than 2,000 workers were employed, and two tram lines were brought to the area. The works proceeded slowly, and in 1989 the director of the construction company sought credit and began selling the houses that were not yet finished. Francisco Piria auctioned off the first lots, and the first to make a purchase was President Máximo Tajes himself. However, due to the baring crisis, the company went bankrupt and became part of the capital of the newly created Banco Hipotecario, which finished the works and finally sold the homes. In addition, the name of the neighborhood was changed to ''Villa Muñoz,'' in honor of the first president of the bank. During the first half of the 20th century, a large number of Jews, mainly from Eastern Europe, settled in Villa Muñoz, establishing Jewish schools and synagogues. For this reason the neighborhood began to be known as the . The former prison for women of Miguelete Street (closed since 1986), the Estrella del Norte, located in the southwestern edge of the ''barrio'', had its west wing restored and transformed into a contemporary art exhibition area, the Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo, which opened to the public in June 2010.

Places of worship

* Parish Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Inca 2040; popularly known as St. Pancras, a popular pilgrimage destination every 12th day of the month (

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 ...

, Claretians) * Parish Church of Our Lady of Mercy and St. Jude Taddhaeus, a sanctuary; Juan José de Amézaga 2018 (Roman Catholic)Parish and Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy

References

External links

Intendencia de Montevideo / Historia de Villa Muñóz

Intendencia de Montevideo / Historia del barrio Goes

* ttp://www.raicesuruguay.com/raices/barrio_goes.html Revista Raices /Historia del barrio Goes Barrios of Montevideo Jews and Judaism in Montevideo {{Montevideo-stub

History

Places of worship

See also

References

External links