Travel to Uruguay: Medical insurance mandatory
There’s been some confusion around whether it’s necessary to have health insurance to enter Uruguay since recent changes to travel requirements. We explain.
Uruguay has a new UNESCO World Heritage site: the Cristo Obrero Church in Atlántida designed by engineer Eladio Dieste, also known as ‘the master of brick’.
Built between 1958 and 1960 the church is a dramatic example of the work of Eladio Dieste (1917-2000). It is built entirely of brick and does not have a single supporting pillar. Instead the weight is distributed by curved vaults and arches which seem to defy gravity.
The church was awarded heritage status due to its technical innovation and its modern reinterpretation of a type of traditional building.
The Getty calls the church “a marvel of modern architecture. Inside, light enters the space only through skylights, onyx on the doors, and the coloured fixtures placed along the lateral walls.” Have a look at how stunning the church interior is.
Uruguay has always been a country at the vanguard of architecture. Particularly in the 1920s and 30s. Modern architecture which had begun in Europe and which ground to a halt during the Second World War continued developing in Uruguay unhampered. Dieste who was born in Artigas in the north of Uruguay became a worldwide icon of architecture design and construction.
In Uruguay, his company was responsible for building more than 150 buildings, most of them utilitarian (warehouses, transit terminals). He designed on the basis of economy and beauty, what he called “the strength of shapes, not the redundant accumulation of material”.
The Cristo Obrero church is located several kilometres north of the seaside town of Atlántida.
Other Dieste buildings to put on your visiting list include:
Dieste was also responsible for the design of over 220 rural schools throughout Uruguay. Find out more about Dieste and how to spot the rural schools as you drive around Uruguay.
Find out more about these sites in The Guru’Guay Guide to Uruguay.
Ruta 11 km 164, Estación Atlántida, Canelones Department.
Open Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m.
Guided tours are temporarily suspended due to covid. The bell tower cannot be accessed for security reasons.
Cover picture: Nicolas Barriola, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Travel to Uruguay: Medical insurance mandatory
There’s been some confusion around whether it’s necessary to have health insurance to enter Uruguay since recent changes to travel requirements. We explain.
My 9-day vacation in Uruguay: Intrepid reader writes
Beaches, classic car races and a bargain therapy session. We were delighted to get this email from one reader after his vacations in Uruguay.
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Montevideo is often overshadowed by Buenos Aires. Three well-travelled bloggers tell what made them fall in love with South America’s off-the-radar capital.
A full half of all of the wineries in Uruguay are located in Canelones. These were founded often 4-5 generations ago by European immigrants.
Guru’Guay talks to a British-born economist about what attracted him as an expat in Uruguay to the gated communities of Canelones in 2019.
Real estate prices have risen dramatically in the last two years in Camino de los Horneros, a residential area of 20+ gated communities. Why?
Dance tango in Uruguay. Especially if you are a beginner or intermediate tango dancer, the tango scene in Montevideo is much friendlier than Buenos Aires.
In the 1960s, a philanthropist and an engineer set about replacing “school shacks” in the poorest, most remote parts of Uruguay. They went on to build 228.
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