Carmelo: the only city Artigas founded
Founded by Artigas in 1816, it has the only human-powered swing bridge in South America and the oldest historic wine-growing zone in Uruguay.
José Gervasio Artigas is the Uruguayan national hero, and his name is on a square, an avenue and a monument in practically every town in the country.
But there is a single city that he founded in person and that is still standing.
It lies forty minutes from Colonia del Sacramento, on the arroyo de las Vacas, has 19,915 inhabitants and is the second largest in the department.
It is called Carmelo.
The act of foundation
The story is specific and documented.
From around 1758 there existed, near the present site, the settlement of Las Víboras — a chapel and a few farmsteads. The residents, dissatisfied with the decline of the site, asked for it to be moved to the mouth of the arroyo de las Vacas.
Artigas, then at Purificación del Hervidero, decreed the move. The town was founded on 12 February 1816.
The founding record opens like this: “The citizen José Artigas, Chief of the Orientals and Protector of the Free Peoples, concerned with the common happiness, with the progress of the peoples of the Banda Oriental…”
Carmelo received the status of city on 17 August 1920, under Law No. 7,257.
Growth since then has been continuous and without upheaval:
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1908 | 9,364 |
| 1963 | 12,705 |
| 1985 | 14,278 |
| 1996 | 16,658 |
| 2011 | 18,041 |
| 2023 | 19,915 |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), the national statistics office.
The bridge that moves by the strength of one person
Over the arroyo de las Vacas stands the most curious piece of Uruguayan civil engineering.
The Puente Giratorio de Carmelo opened on 1 May 1912 and is the only human-powered bridge in South America. It turns on its own axis to let boats through, and links the northern part of the city to the southern strip, where the yacht club, Playa Seré and the park are.
It is not a museum piece. It is the bridge the city uses.
Wine: the oldest historic zone in the country
This is the part of the story that almost nobody abroad knows, and it gives Carmelo an identity that no other Uruguayan region can claim.
According to the studies carried out by the Universidad de la República and by INAVI — the national viticulture institute —, Carmelo is the most significant historic wine-growing identification zone in Uruguay. The other producing regions of the country — Canelones, Salto, Rivera, Maldonado — are later than the arrival and development of the vine there.
The reason is geographical: the proximity of Buenos Aires. Long before Montevideo was settled, these lands were already farming estates linked to the other side of the river.
Some verifiable milestones in that history:
1741 — The Jesuits develop a community with indigenous people on the Belén estancia. It is the site known today as Calera de las Huérfanas, where there is evidence of vines planted by them.
1767 — The estancia comes to depend on Buenos Aires, and its administration is handed to Juan de San Martín — father of General José de San Martín. Three siblings of the Argentine liberator were born there.
1855 — The Almacén de la Capilla, belonging to the Cordano family, is founded in Colonia Estrella: the oldest winery in Carmelo.
1869 — The Capilla San Roque is raised, in the heart of the Carmelo terroir.
1913 — The Irurtia winery is founded; from the 1970s onwards, under Dante Irurtia, it brought in French technicians, planted a varied range of grape varieties and selected those that worked best in the region. Today the house works with around thirty grape varieties.
1938 — Calera de las Huérfanas passes into public ownership and becomes a National Historic Monument.
The consequence is worth holding on to: modern Uruguayan wine, as several technicians in the sector read it, belongs to the French school and began here.
What is there today
Carmelo works as a complete city and, at the same time, as a wine-tourism destination.
The river and the boats. The yacht mooring has around 600 metres of quay wall, capacity for 200 berths, power, drinking water, toilets and a nautical camping area. Catamarans leave Puerto Carmelo to cross the Río de la Plata to Tigre, in Argentina.
The beaches. Playa Seré, with pale sand and the calm waters of the Río de la Plata, is the meeting point of the season.
The heritage. Besides Calera de las Huérfanas, the region has the Narbona estancia, described by the departmental tourism portal as the oldest building in Uruguay preserved in its original lines, and the large house that President Oribe had built between 1848 and 1849 to serve as a school — today a museum, with original floors and roofs and documents from the settlement of Las Víboras.
The infrastructure. Zagarzazú, on the strip between Carmelo and Nueva Palmira, has a small airport, high-end hotels and a golf course.
The access. Ruta 21 from Colonia del Sacramento; around two and a half hours from Montevideo on Ruta 1 combined with Ruta 21.
Who Carmelo makes sense for
- Those who want a small city with real services — almost twenty thousand inhabitants is the point at which you still know your neighbour and can already sort everything out.
- Those with ties to Buenos Aires: the river crossing is direct and short.
- Those who value countryside, vineyard and river rather than open sea.
- Those looking for rural property or a smallholding in a region with a productive identity consolidated over more than a century.
- Those who enjoy boating — the mooring is one of the best equipped on the western coast.
- Those who want prices outside the Montevideo–Punta del Este axis, with historic heritage and tourist infrastructure already in place.
Note on sources: the population data come from the 2023 Census of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística and from the historical series of the same institute. The dates of the foundation of the city, of its elevation to city status by Law No. 7,257 and of the opening of the swing bridge come from public Uruguayan historical sources. The information on wine-growing history is based on studies carried out by the Universidad de la República together with INAVI, reported by the Uruguayan press. The attribution to the Narbona estancia of the status of the oldest building in the country preserved in its original lines is the one given by the departmental tourism portal and has not been confirmed in an official heritage register. Land-use conditions and heritage protection regimes must be checked case by case.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Carmelo?
José Gervasio Artigas, on 12 February 1816, by moving the old settlement of Las Víboras to the mouth of the arroyo de las Vacas. It is the only city founded in person by the Uruguayan national hero that is still standing.
How many inhabitants does Carmelo have?
19,915, according to the 2023 Census — the second most populous city in the department of Colonia, after Colonia del Sacramento.
What is the Carmelo swing bridge?
A bridge over the arroyo de las Vacas, opened on 1 May 1912, which turns on its own axis to let boats through. It is the only human-powered bridge in South America.
Is Carmelo the wine region of Uruguay?
It is the most significant historic wine-growing identification zone in the country, according to studies by the Universidad de la República and INAVI: the other Uruguayan producing regions are later than the development of the vine there. The oldest winery in the region, the Almacén de la Capilla, was founded in 1855.
What is Calera de las Huérfanas?
A historic site near Carmelo, originating in the Jesuit estancia of Belén from 1741 onwards. In 1767 it came to be administered by Juan de San Martín, father of General José de San Martín, and it has been a National Historic Monument since 1938.
How do you get to Carmelo?
By Ruta 21 from Colonia del Sacramento, or around two and a half hours from Montevideo on Ruta 1 combined with Ruta 21. There is also a catamaran river crossing between Puerto Carmelo and Tigre, in Argentina.
Where to start
There is a difference between a beautiful city and a city with layers.
Carmelo has layers: a colonial settlement moved by decree of Artigas in 1816, a Jesuit estancia from 1741 where siblings of the Argentine liberator were born, a bridge from 1912 that still turns by the strength of one person, wineries that have passed through generations of the same family, and a wine-growing tradition older than that of every other region in the country.
It is not a destination that is exhausted in a weekend. It is a place you can live in without it becoming small.
The full map of the country is in Map of the regions of Uruguay, and the neighbouring city in Colonia del Sacramento. The budget is in Cost of living in Uruguay in 2026; for anyone thinking about land, the starting point is Farmland in Uruguay.
And when the choice of city becomes a relocation project, that is the path we walk alongside the family in Relocation and Living.
Informational content. It does not constitute real estate, legal, tax or investment advice. Data verified on 21 August 2026 with the Instituto Nacional de Estadística of Uruguay and with public historical sources. Each situation is analysed individually.