Tacuarembó

Tacuarembó, city, north-central Uruguay. The Haedo Mountains dominate the adjoining area. Orchids and hardwoods, including quebracho, algarrobo, urunday, and guayabo, grow there. Founded in 1831 by Bernabé Rivera, it was first called Villa de San Fructuoso; later, it adopted the Guaraní Indian name Tacuarembó (from a firm, slender reed endemic to the region). The city’s Indian and gaucho past is represented in the Indian Museum (Museo del Indio).

Tacuarembó lies on the railway from Montevideo into Brazil and has developed essentially as a one-industry city, processing meat, wool, hides, and tallow, used to make soap and shortening. As an administrative centre, however, it employs a substantial civil service force and has begun to develop a tourist industry. Tacuarembó has a government-owned television and radio station. The cathedral of San Fructuoso (completed in 1834) dominates the main plaza. Pop. (2004) 51,224.