250 ANNIVERSARY OF THE

FOUNDATION OF PASO DEL MOLINO (MONTEVIDEO)

 

Technical features:

Print-run: 35.000

Value: $ 4

Design: Carlos Menck Freire

Date of issue: November 26 th.

Code: 98- 55- C

 Stamp
 

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THE FOUNDATION
On December 23rd. l747, the " Cabildo" (Counsel) of Montevideo accepted the request submitted by Jesuit Cosme Agulló to build a flour mill. Up to then, the flour used in San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo to prepare the "galleta" (coarse bread ) , and "bizcocho" (sponge) for the Spanish land , and naval troops came from Buenos Aires. The mill started being built in l748 on the land the Cabildo ceded to the Jesuits on the left margin of Miguelete stream , near the ford on the Camino Real (Royal Way) . In order to produce the necessary wheat , Priest Agulló taught the owners of the "chacras" (small farms) on the Miguelete to grow crops . In this way, a community developed axed on the mill , and it was named "Paso del Molino" . At the beginning, it was a mere stage for "carretas" (carriages). Twenty years later, despite the fact that the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies, the community life remained unchanged. About l870, it became a neighbourhood in expanding Montevideo. During the "Guerra Grande" (a civil conflict), and on occasion of the several epidemics that affected Montevideo, many weathy families moved to the "quintas" (farms) on the Miguelete. General Manuel Oribe (a major leader of the "Blanco" Party) provided the funds to build the Chapel of the Paso del Molino. Over the last two decades of l9th. Century, Paso del Molino became the most elegant and exclusive neighbourhood in Montevideo,- by then, a city in expansion. About twenty of the mansions of those days are kept up to now. They all were designed by the most famous architects, surrounded by beautiful parks, and ornamented with valuable works of art. The most famous of these "quintas" was banquer José de Buschenthal's, which at present has been converted into the "Paseo del Prado" (Prado Promenade). The great commercial and social development of the area made it possible to build a big hotel there, the "Gran Hotel del Paso del Molino", that would accomodate remarkable figures of those days. The officers of the "Ejército Imperial del Brasil" (Army of the Empire come from Brazil) stayed in it during their convalescence after the "Guerra de la Triple Alianza" (War of the Triple Alliance). Paso del Molino successively linked with the Capital by horse trams, electric trams, and buses , gradually became a neighbourhood of the city, and nowadays, it is one of Montevideo's most enterprising areas due to its commercial, industrial and social development.

 
Font: Evocative texte: Lic. Herman Kruse

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