Río de la Plata

The Rio de la Plata, in Montevideo

The Rio de la Plata is the vast estuary that borders Montevideo, formed by the meeting of the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, a hundred kilometres wide at the level of the town. The Montevideo audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this 'river of silver', whose name comes from the mines of Potosí, and its major role in the history of the region.

The river of silver of the mines of Potosí

You have had all the leisure to observe it, so let me briefly present the Rio de la Plata to you. According to the geographers, you will see it described sometimes as a river, sometimes as an estuary, sometimes as a gulf, so much its immensity blurs the categories. It constitutes the common mouth of the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, that drain a great part of the south of the continent. About two hundred and fifty kilometres long and a hundred kilometres wide at the level of Montevideo, it is so vast that you do not glimpse the other bank: you would think yourself facing the sea, but its waters are in reality a mixture of fresh water and brackish water, of a brownish colour due to the sediments carried by the rivers. Contrary to what you might believe, it is not the colour of the water that earned it its name of river of silver, but indeed its relationship with the famous silver mines of Potosí, in present-day Bolivia. It is indeed by this great waterway that the silver extracted from the Andean mountains was conveyed, transported to the ports of the estuary before being embarked towards Spain. The Rio de la Plata was thus, from the colonisation, a major strategic axis, around which Montevideo and Buenos Aires developed, rivals on its two banks. Today, it offers the people of Montevideo their sunsets and their beaches, and remains at the heart of the identity of the town. A historic estuary and a river of silver, the Rio de la Plata is a fine stop of the discovery of Montevideo.

What to see

Here you contemplate the vast estuary that borders Montevideo, formed by the common mouth of the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, a hundred kilometres wide at the level of the town, so immense that you do not glimpse the other bank; its name of river of silver comes from the mines of Potosí, whose metal transited by this waterway, a strategic axis around which Montevideo and Buenos Aires were born. The Rio de la Plata is at the heart of the identity of Montevideo. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Rio de la Plata borders Montevideo, run along by the Rambla, reachable on foot. You contemplate it freely from the promenade, the beaches and the jetty, particularly at sunset. You discover it during a walk along the Rambla.

Why is the Rio de la Plata called the river of silver?

Not because of the colour of its water, brownish, but because of its relationship with the famous silver mines of Potosí, in present-day Bolivia: it is by this vast estuary, common mouth of the rivers Uruguay and Paraná, that the silver of the Andes was conveyed towards Spain, which made it a major strategic axis around which Montevideo and Buenos Aires were born.

Where to see the Rio de la Plata in Montevideo?

Along the Rambla, the beaches and the jetty of Montevideo, in Uruguay.