Today is Uruguay’s Día del Patrimonio. Every year during this weekend, Uruguayos celebrate their prized old buildings, plazas, historic sites, statuary, light houses, gardens, homes of famous people, antigue cars. churches, national monument–all of the things that endow this small country with its very rich history.
Indeed, as I ponder it, Uruguay’s rich sense of history and purpose may well be a major contributing factor to its”niceness”! They neither have a chip on their shoulder nor do they have anything to prove! Perhaps those are also key elements in the sense of “normalcy” I find so attractive.
If you want to get a feel for just how important this day is, go to www.patrimoniouruguay.net/.
If you want ample eveidence of the depth of the heritage of this small place, download this spreadsheet which has a comprehensive list of all the heritage sites by category. Día del Patrimonio
Part of that patrimony is undoubtedly Uruguay’s National Anthem, “Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!” (Uruguayans, the Fatherland or Death!). It is generally considered to have the longest music of any national anthem (though Greece has more verses, 158 total). To listen to it: http://david.national-anthems.net/uy.htm
The National Anthem of Uruguay was officially adopted by a Government decree of July 27 1848. The music was composed by FRANCISCO JOSÉ DEBALI (1791-1859), a native of Hungary who came to Uruguay in 1838. The National Anthem of Uruguay is really an operatic aria with a bombastic instrumental introduction.
The text is by FRANCISCO ESTEBAN ACUÑA de FIGUEROA (1791-1862), a native of Montevideo, a poet and Chief of the National Library of Uruguay.
Maybe next year you will be here to enjoy it too!
