Frontier of Peace.

Agustín, Camila & Lucia. FORM VI 2012 St. Catherine´s School

Teacher : Adriana Rivero. Rivera - Uruguay

1- A Unique Border.

2- Unique in Many Ways.

3- Unique facts.

4- Landmarks.

5- International Park:

a- The Obelisk and The Luminous Water Fountain.

c- Mother´s Day Statue and gardens.

6- Landmark Low Hill.

7- Final Words.

8- View of the Frontier of Peace.

9- About Us.

FRONTIER OF PEACE

A unique place.A unique community.A unique language.A unique border.

We live in a very unique frontier called ‘Frontera de la Paz’ (Frontier of Peace).

It is on the border of Uruguay and Brazil. In the North of Uruguay and South of Brazil there is a dry frontier (no body of water separates the countries).

Two cities, Rivera (Uruguay) and Santana do Livramento (Brazil) are united and divided by a park (International Park) and a street which belong to both countries.

Both cities have their own laws, governments, languages and cultures but the real thing is that as time went by this place has become a unique community with shared culture and traditions and a unique language, the ‘Portuñol’, a mix of Portuguese ( brazilian official language) and Spanish (uruguayan official language).

One thing that makes this place so special is that you can go from one city to the other (from one country to the other) just by walking.

There is no need to show any documents or to ask for permission, sometimes you don´t even notice where you are (if Brazil or Uruguay).

BRAZIL URUGUAY

Even though Santana do Livramento `s people speak Portuguese and Rivera`s people speak Spanish, they can understand or speak both languages.

The same thing happens with money ,”real(“brazilian money) and “peso” (uruguayan money) are used in both cities without any restrictions.

This unique place has many other unique facts, one of them is that the official political limits between both countries in this area were never set. This is probably the reason why both communities united into one.

This also caused that many people from Rivera live, work or study in Livramento and people from Livramento live, work or study in Rivera.

People here are so close that Uruguayan and Brazilian people celebrate their Independence Day together. There are parades along the main streets of each city which are also connected, they just change names from one country to the other (Sarandi Ave. in Rivera and Andradas Ave. in Santana do Livramento).Potographs used with the proper authorization

from http://www.derivera.com.uy (digital magazine).

Along the borderline between the two cities are landmarks ( stone monuments called ‘marcos’) that show where Uruguay is and where Brazil is.

They are placed every 600 metres along the imaginary line that separate the cities. This line is called ‘Linea de Paso Civil’ (civil passing line). Outside the cities limits these landmarks are placed every 1000 metres.These monuments give a special view of the borderline.

As far as we know this park is the only one in the world which belongs to two countries.

It is located in the centre of both cities and is an symbol of this unique frontier.

It has got beautiful gardens and symbolic monuments: an obelisk, a luminous water fountain and a statue.

The three monuments belong to the two cities, as they are placed exactly on top of the borderline. So half of each of them actually belongs to each country.

The International Park was built in 1943, it´s 55000 square metres in size. It has exotic plants and trees, many of them are part of the typical vegetation of the region.

The obelisk has a triangular base which contains the Brazilian and Uruguayan coats of arms (each one facing their own country).

It is 15 metres high and it represents the union of both communities into a unique one.

BRAZILURUGUAY

The Luminous Water Fountain has 18 different sets of lights which are usually turned on during summer nights.

It represents the brotherhood and peace between the two cities and their people.

The Mother´s Day Statue is also another beautiful monument in this Park. It is a gift from Livramento to Rivera for the wonderful idea of this international and one of a kind park.

The Park aslo offers beautiful gardens and a natural and lovely place to enjoy.

This low hill is placed in the centre of Rivera and Livramento, it belongs to both cities. From this low hill you can see the sister cities (they are also called that way).

A view of both cities from the ‘Marco’ low Hill.

Brazilian side of the hill.

In this picture , he has one foot in Uruguay and the other foot in Brazil.

A local poet, Dr. Ludendorff Guadalupe, described the uniqueness of this frontier in a poem called ‘ Ejemplo de Fronteras’ (Example of Frontiers).

This poem is actually another symbol of this frontier, at the service of its community, that´s why it is possible that every person from here knows it.

Here are some fragments of it:

‘… Ciudades pegadas,Con la misma gente…

…Estar en Santana o estar en Rivera,Jamás nadie piensa que es tierra extranjera…

…Mucha gente de paso debe admirar nuestra manera,Que no necesita de permisos para ir de Santana hasta Rivera…

…Sin embargo sabemos que en el mundo, hay muchas ciudades parecidas,Pero las libertades de nosotros, no son por ellas conocidas…’

United cities, with the same kind of people.

When you are in Santana or Rivera, you never think it´s foreign land.

Many people who are not from here may admire our tradition that doesn´t need permission to go from one city to the other.

We know that in the world, There are many similar cities.But the freedom we have here, are not known by them.

Our Unique Place in the World. The Frontier of Peace

View of both cities from ‘Marco’ Low Hill. Awesome!

In this group of work we are three people:

Lucía Belén Guixé.

Camila Lanes .

Agustín Varela.

We went on a trip, with our classmates, all along the borderline between the two cities, we took many pictures and we found out a lot about our place in the world.

We are students of Form VI at St. Catherine´s School Rivera.Our school is bilingual ( English and Spanish), and we also learn Portuguese, of course.