MONTEVIDEO, ARCHDIOCESE of — Archdiocese and capital city of Uraguay. It has an area of 40,062 sq. km., with a population of 1,345,000 inhabitants, of whom 935,000 are Catholics, distributed among 82 parishes, served by 97 diocesan priests and 450 religious, one seminary, 71 male and 110 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 277).
Until 1620 the territory was under the jurisdiction of Buenos-Aires; in 1828 it was erected into an apostolic vicariate; on 15 July 1878 Pope Leone XIII created the diocese, and its first bishop was Msgr. Giacinto Vera; on 19 Apr. 1897 the same Pontiff raised M. to metropolitan status, assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Florida-Melo and Salto; the first archbishop was Msgr. Mariano Soler.
The city was founded in 1723 by the Portuguese. The cathedral, begun in 1803, was completed only in 1905; other noteworthy churches are those of S. Francesco, Aguada, the Seminary, the Concezione, Madonna di Lourdes, Reducto, the Adoratrici, the Redentorists, the Capuchins, and the Jackson chapel of the Jesuits. Important buildings include those of the Club Catolico and the Circulo Catolico de Obreros. The National Museum was founded there in 1880; later came the Museum and Historical Archive, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Meteorological Museum. The two principal libraries are the National Library and that attached to the University.