AUGUST´S FEATURED DOOR OF THE MONTH – MONTEVIDEO – URUGUAY

August 6, 2018 SouthAmerica

Doors in historic Montevideo, Uruguay, are worn out, poorly conserved, and entirely interesting to ponder on the events that they have witnessed. The older part of Montevideo, known as Ciudad Vieja, lies to the west of the modern city, and it is on a point of land bordering the Rio de La Plata. The riverfront walkways and roads are locally known as the Rambla. To go driving on this frontage road is called “Rambleando”. The north side of old town has the famous Mercado del Puerto, where many tasty grilled meals can be enjoyed. Montevideo in general is less secure than many cities in South America, such that at night the streets are missing the normal pedestrian activity. We stayed at a hotel in La Ciudad Vieja making it easy to work on our doors of South America project, something that called our attention was the people, the Uruguayans are in general relaxed and friendly. Food in Uruguay is tasty; some of the best grilled meats can be found here. We also had a show at a place called El Milongon were you can learn to appreciate el Candombe, el Tango, la Milonga, and gauchos Uruguayos. All while enjoying a great Uruguayan dinner.

The doors in Montevideo are narrow and tall. And many have an immediately distinct side by side arrangement. Each door tends to be doubled, having two of these next to one another is odd, we call it the double doors of Montevideo. The tops are arched, and many feature small windows to let in the light. The doors have ornate carvings, and some of the nicer ones are not painted but darkly stained instead. Numerous doors have seen better days and wealthier times. Some have broken door handles, missing the mail slot metal covers, and peeling paint. The walls likewise have faded and peeling paint that is commonly pastel in hue. The humid climate probably ages the woodwork and paint faster than in arid environments.

Finding the historic doors we feature in our large book Doors of South America, took days of walking about Montevideo because of the very same security issue that we mentioned in the first paragraph. Many building entrances have been augmented with metal bars, or the old doors replace with metal panels. The early mornings were quiet, and uncrowded, walking old streets that were mostly empty of people, except for the odd corner market selling fresh bread, and fruit to start the day. We likewise struggled against the lighting, finding interesting doors half in sunlight and shade, requiring us to note their location and return to photograph them in more appropriate light. In addition, every day it rained and this impacted the capturing of the images. Persistence, time, and dedication were required to photograph the doors of Montevideo. We found many interesting doors in Uruguay, but the one we show here for Montevideo was one of our favorites, although at times it is hard to decide on which one to pick from our 300 doors to be featured as door of the month. To learn more about our fascination for doors of South America check our post on Captivating doors of South America.

We highly recommend visiting Montevideo to see the historic center, and enjoy a show that displays the Uruguayan culture, and the locally grilled meats along with a glass of Tannat wine.