Situated in Mercedes, Soriano, Uruguay.

It’s a building from 1885, originally built as a Masonic temple of the Capitolar Lodge Harmony. This fact is reflected in the abundant symbolism that can be seen in its architecture: the orb surrounded by the zodiac signs placed in the semicircle of the pediment, the ornamental columns of the main door representing Jachim and Boaz (columns of the Temple of Solomon) and the three grenades located above each of these, the black and white tiled, the knotted cord that surrounds the main hall, etc.

The architectural ensemble presents an eclectic style with outstanding baroque details. Currently, the Municipal House of Culture operates in the building, where different courses and workshops related to the arts are provided and accommodates constant artistic and social activities in its auditorium and exhibition hall.

Team: Catalina Colucci, Victoria Arrieta, Paulina Moresco, Josefina Maness and Pío Mezquida.

Mercedes was established by Manuel Antonio de Castro y Carega in 1788. The first thing that was built was a church located in the city center that it later turned into the current cathedral. The first graveyard was next to the church because historically that was the done thing oat that time. Then, they changed the location of the cemetery because there wasn't enough space, the smell and because it was dismal. The second location of the cemetery was in the 'cerro' where the 47 school is currently located. After that ,the colera started spreading in the city and the only man that had the braveness to collect the dead infected bodies was Serafin Rivas Rodriguez. The problem was that while he carried them along the city in a tumbril he infected all the people. The cemetery was changed because the infected body needed to be burried 10 meters deep and the ground there was shallow. The 3rd cemetery was located in the same place that it is currently but it has been expanded. They carried the infected bodies by boat through the Daca stream.

At that time the concept of death was percibed in a different way. At that moment, the death was more common because there were a lot of unknown illnesses and there weren't many methods of healing. Also, the fact of dying in the war for your country was an act of honor.

The people perception of death was controlled by religion, the churches and the philosophy. Then, people's sensibility changed, and as a result the meaning of death started to reflect the failure of medicine.

This event marked the first attack by the MLN-T outside the capital and reflected the violence and political polarization of the time. It also became a significant part of Mercedes' history, and now the bullet hole from the shootout is considered a heritage site and can still be found at the location where it occurred. This helps us never forget this story.

Aznarez - Pastrana - Dudoy - Bianchi

The first murder happened in 1849, was from a young man of 20 years old who was shot, where is the barbershop today, some neighbors managed to convince the minister not to execute him but when he gave the order it was too late.

The second murder was about the importance of education for everyone, and how Maximo Pérez is proof of it.

In February of 1868 the ex-president Venancio Flores was murdered in Montevideo, from the capital they sent a letter, that said “Venancio Flores was murdered, gather your people and come here” in Spanish “come here” says “vengase” and Perez being illiterate read “take revenge” in spanish “Venguese'' these two words are similar in spanish, and after that he executed all white supporter who found. If he had known how to read, this slaughter could have been avoided.

Finally, the last murder was in 1908, with the new president, Tomás Belén was replaced by Bernardino Chans of the Colorado political party as Soriano 's political leader. Chans was unpopular and constantly attacked by the press, especially by the newspaper "El Did”, directed by journalist Roberto Mendoza.

On September 13, 1908, in Independence square, Chans encountered Mendoza and threatened him, saying, "Now that there are no witnesses, I tell you that I will not be in this position all my life, so in 24 hours, I will kill you and cut your tongue."

Two days later, they met again in the same place. Chans hit Mendoza, who pulled out a gun and fired twice, injuring Chans in the shoulder and skull, killing him.

Julieta Mesa, Gianna Scurati and Luisa Lauber

The first documented records that we have about the cathedral of Our Lady of Mercedes are a drawing and a lithograph. The drawing, commissioned by the plebiscite Eduardo Henríquez, was made by González, where in the year 1865 he shows a sketch of the square, buildings, and the primitive facade of the new chapel. In 1869, the Society of Friends of Mercedes made a lithograph, where the primitive new chapel and the current cathedral under construction appear.

The architectural style of the cathedral is a neoclassical style belonging to a period that went from the 16th century to the 19th century, which referred to elements of classical antiquity, especially Greek and Roman architecture. The characteristics of this style are Corinthian-style columns, geometric shapes, simplicity, some details are decorated like vases, bas-reliefs, rectangular plants, the pediment, and the semicircular arch.

camila kent, bruno lopez, felipe cuadrado and érica rodríguez