Backpacker de La Barra is your Hostel in Punta del Este

Flesh Wetsuits - Punta del Este - Uruguay

Where to Eat in Punta del EsteWhere to Sleep in Punta del EsteWhat to Do in Punta del EsteWhere to Go in Punta del EsteHow to get to Punta del EstePictures of Punta del EsteVideos of Punta del EsteTourist Information of Punta del EsteRent a Car in Punta del EsteAdvertise with VivapuntaRecommended in Punta del EsteGuide of Punta del EsteEspañol
 
 
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Historia de Punta del Este 1

In 1904, at the start of the promotion, the infrastructure is staggering: there is a fully stocked city and a  hotel that escapes the paragons of their time. From 1905 are built in Piriápolis a number of hotels, the first of which is the great Hotel Piriápolis. It was designed by Jones Brown, the furniture was imported from Italy, and the dining room has walls covered with mirrors of Saint Gobain. It worked there the first casino, which was transferred to the Hotel Argentino when it opened in 1930. Today, the hotel functions as a School Camp, but you can still find traces of its past glories.

Argentino Hotel de PiriápolisThe granite, in a range that goes from gray to pink and to violet, is extracted from the region as well as the marble. A marble Piria himself leads to Europe to the amazement of those who examine it. From Piriápolis were exported different varieties of granite, black granite being the most common. A few years after the establishment of workshops (the name which are still known the remains of the quarry and processing mills) are also sold wine, brandy and cognacquina of Piriápolis.

The building materials were available and used locomotives for transportation. In 1910, through an open path in the rock, the Piria's train reaches the Pan de Azúcar as the first passenger train. It is a narrow gauge railway, where 36,000 quebracho sleepers were required. Nothing remains of this in the 50's, all the railroad was sold as scrap.

The Port of Piriápolis was a work of great importance, for which it should be removed some of the Cerro del Inglés, commonly known as the Cerro San Antonio because of the presence of the chapel of offered to San Antonio by Piria in 1913 (not known yet there has been an official change of nomenclature). Almost all of the quay wall and the whole pier was built with stones of more than a ton based on the actual Cerro del Inglés, a color from deep red to brown. Fine details, however, are built with granite from Cerro Pan de Azucar.

The port was destroyed twice by sea storms, making the work take longer than agreed with the authorities. For this reason it was expropriated to Piria and authorizing him later to finish it, which was held in 1916. Then begin to reach Piriápolis many cruises, a new form of weekend tourism. The port work is complemented by an Ocean Drive of seven kilometers long by forty yards wide, extending from Punta Fría to Playa Grande. It is decorated with concrete planters and tamarisks, then replaced by palm trees.

Piria Castle was the private residence of Don Francisco Piria. Completed in 1897 and designed by Monzani, is a replica of one of the Italian Riviera. He had a park with palm trees and other species of trees brought from all over the world and a large number of terracotta statues.

Piria's Castle in Piriápolis

The Argentino Hotel was the finishing touch that brought Piria to his great work. This is a spectacular building, inspired by Italian palaces, and whose design make him break with his trusted architect Jones Brown: Piria was not an architect, but in his mind he had all the details of this work, whithout leaving a single one randomly, but seem capricious.

previous | continue

Catedral de Maldonado

LEGACIES OF THE COLONY

Historical monuments that remain from the Spanish colonization, some very ancient. Mainly in Maldonado, these monuments can be visited everyday...

More Info

Read more
Read more

Where to eat   |  Where to sleep   |  What to do   |  Where to go   |  Pictures   |  Videos   |  Tourist Information   |  Rent a Car
Advertising   |  Recommended   |  Guide of Punta del Este   |  Español

ISSN 1688-1990 - ®Copyright 2000-2011 vivapunta.com - All rights reserved -