| Melo | |
|---|---|
| — Capital city — | |
| The Posta del Chuy, Melo | |
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Melo
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Uruguay |
| Department | Cerro Largo Department |
| Founded | 1795 |
| Founder | Agustín de la Rosa |
| Elevation | 80 m (262 ft) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 50,578 |
| • Demonym | melense |
| Time zone | UTC -3 |
| Postal code | 37000 |
| Area code(s) | +598 64 |
| Website | Official site of Cerro Largo |
Melo is the capital city of the Cerro Largo Department of north-eastern Uruguay. It is located at the centre of the department, on the intersection of Route 7 with Route 8, 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Aceguá and the border with Brazil. Other primary roads to the city are Route 26 and Route 44. The stream Arroyo Conventos (a tributary of Tacuarí River) flows by the west limits of the city. The status of Melo was elevated to "City" category on 22 May 1895 by decree Ley No. 2.3279.
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It was founded on June 27, 1795 by Agustín de la Rosa, an officer to the Spanish Empire.[2]
Given its proximity to some Portuguese colonies in Brazil, the "Melo Village" (in Spanish, "Villa de Melo"), as it was once named, it was invaded by Portuguese forces in 1801, 1811, and 1816. With Uruguayan independence, Melo was officially declared capital of the department of Cerro Largo.
In 1845, the city square was renamed in honor of Manuel Oribe, a former President of Uruguay and a political leader of the White Party (Partido Blanco), which brought to light the relations of this corner of the country with that National Movement (the vast majority of its inhabitants have belonged to that same political community).
The historian J.C. Chasteen has discussed the place of Melo in the history of Uruguay in his book "Heroes on Horseback: A Life and Times of the Last Gaucho Caudillos".[3]
In 2004 Melo had a population of 50,578 inhabitants.[4]
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1963 | 33,387 |
| 1975 | 38,487 |
| 1985 | 42,245 |
| 1996 | 46,883 |
| 2004 | 50,578 |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Uruguay[5]
Melo has a humid subtropical climate, described by the Köppen climate classification as Cfa. Summers are warm (with hot days and cool nights) and winters are cool, with frequent frosts and fog. The precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, with an average of 1,241 mm (48.85 in), and the annual average temperature is 17 °C (63 °F).
This city has the lowest recorded temperature in Uruguay, of -11 °C (12.2 °F), on June 14, 1967.[6]
| Climate data for Melo, Cerro Largo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 40.4 (104.7) |
40.0 (104.0) |
40.4 (104.7) |
35.8 (96.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
29.6 (85.3) |
30.0 (86.0) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
34.2 (93.6) |
38.4 (101.1) |
39.5 (103.1) |
40.4 (104.7) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30.5 (86.9) |
29.7 (85.5) |
27.3 (81.1) |
23.6 (74.5) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.2 (63.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
18.3 (64.9) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.0 (73.4) |
25.9 (78.6) |
28.4 (83.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 23.2 (73.8) |
22.8 (73.0) |
20.8 (69.4) |
17.2 (63.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
11.5 (52.7) |
12.4 (54.3) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.9 (62.4) |
18.9 (66.0) |
21.7 (71.1) |
17.0 (62.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) |
16.0 (60.8) |
15.0 (59.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
8.0 (46.4) |
5.1 (41.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
7.7 (45.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
12.0 (53.6) |
14.6 (58.3) |
14.7 (58.5) |
11.8 (53.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−5 (23.0) |
−5.9 (21.4) |
−11 (12.2) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
−4 (24.8) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
0.8 (33.4) |
4.0 (39.2) |
−11 (12.2) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 105 (4.13) |
114 (4.49) |
96 (3.78) |
79 (3.11) |
99 (3.9) |
95 (3.74) |
129 (5.08) |
112 (4.41) |
121 (4.76) |
102 (4.02) |
102 (4.02) |
83 (3.27) |
1,238 (48.74) |
| % humidity | 64 | 68 | 72 | 74 | 76 | 86 | 83 | 80 | 78 | 71 | 75 | 67 | 74 |
| Avg. precipitation days | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 64 |
| Sunshine hours | 264.1 | 206.0 | 236.6 | 192.1 | 175.9 | 140.3 | 152.2 | 165.5 | 172.1 | 232.1 | 235.8 | 288.7 | 2,461.4 |
| Source: Dirección Nacional de Meteorología.[7] | |||||||||||||
Near Melo is situated the old Posta del Chuy, a stone inn near an ancient bridge over the Chuy del Tacuarí creek.
The Conventos Stream, which was once used for boat races carried out by the Club Remeros Melo, has become severely polluted over time and was consequently forbidden to public access. Melo is still an old-fashioned city with low buildings, and a hellhole of stultifying boredness, daily irrigated by cheap Brazilian liquor.
Melo was visited by the Pope John Paul II in 1988. This formed the background to the 2006 film "El Baño del Papa" ("The Pope's Toilet") about an enterprising citizen with the ill-fated idea of making money by building a toilet and charging the hordes of Brazilians expected to visit Melo to see the Pope.
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