CALERA DE LAS HUÉRFANAS

Also known asEstancia del río de las Vacas, the Calera de las Huérfanas was in its time a sign of great progress for the rural world. In order to understand the reasons for this, it is necessary to know that the time following the discovery of the River Plate was characterized by a total lack of interest in the territory of the Eastern Band, which did not contain precious metals. The Spaniards headed straight for the silver lands (hence the name Argentina!), taking the Paraná and Paraguay rivers and using Asunción as their base. From this city came Hernando Arias de Saavedra, nicknamed Hernandarias, who invented the wealth of present-day Uruguay: cows. In the disorder and anarchy that dominated most of the country's countryside, the exploitation of livestock was far from optimal. At the beginning of the second half of the ^18th century, the Jesuit Order obtained, by decree granted in 1741, the use and ownership of the lands located between the arroyos of Las Vacas, San Juan and the Río de la Plata, and up to the Cerro de las Armas. TheEstancia del río de las Vacas was born, with its center located near the Juan Gonzalezarroyo. It was a kind ofestancia-oasis where about 200 workers took care of the vineyards or the herds. Numerous patios, dwellings, forges, carpentries, cheese factories and other ranchos for peasants, natives and black slaves were built. However, this situation was modified by the expulsion of the Jesuits from the country in 1797, ordered by the King of Spain. Theestancia became dependent on the municipal government of Buenos Aires, which delegated the management to Juan San Martín. This man-at-arms was the father of the famous general José de San Martín, the future liberator of Argentina. In addition to his military skills, he also proved to be an excellent manager and managed to expand the establishment considerably. In 1777, following the departure of San Martín three years earlier, the King of Spain had given the charge to the religious of the Caridad, who were to send the profits of theestancia to the Colegio de las Niñas Huérfanas of Buenos Aires (College of Orphan Girls), for which they were also responsible. However, these religious were unable to cope with the unrest, wars and banditry that affected the region, and ruin soon followed. With the arrival of Artigas to power in 1815 and then with the Argentine domination, theestancia had to undergo several sales and splits of its property. General Laguna, hero of the independence, acquired the residence in 1829. Afterwards, it suffered many serious damages due to wars, climatic factors, demolitions and abandonments, until it reached the state it is in today, which is, let's not be afraid of the words: shabby. Nowadays, we can only see the outline of the ruins of the large brick walls of the chapel and its altar, remains of walls or ovens... In 1938, however, these remains were declared a National Historic Monument, at the initiative of the Patriotic Committee of Carmelo. The final objective of the project of valorization of the site is to integrate the Jesuitestancia Calera de las Huérfanas in the cultural circuit of the Route of the Jesuit Missions of the Guaraníes, which until now gathers the ruins of the Jesuit missions of the northeast of Argentina, Paraguay and the south of Brazil and whose main ones are registered in the World Heritage of the UNESCO