Fundadores Square

This is the central square in a city with 12,000 inhabitants, the only Swiss colony in Uruguay and one of the few in Latin America. These days the city is preparing tributes and celebrations for the 150th anniversary of its foundation (taking place in 2012) This monument by the Italian sculptor Arístides Bassi honours the early settlers in what was called the " Swiss agricultural colony nueva helvecia" halfway between the capital Montevideo of Uruguay (120 kmts) and Buenos Aires, Argentina