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Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape on World Heritage List |
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6 July 2015/ UNESCO Office in Montevideo
UNESCO approved the inscription of the Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape on the World Heritage List this Sunday during the 39th meeting of the World Heritage Committee, held in Bonn, Germany. During the same session. the Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System, in Mexico, was also approved.
The Fray Bentos Industrial-Cultural Landscape covers 275 hectares that include the Liebig-Anglo meat-processing plant, its industrial facilities, the docks on the Uruguay River, the slaughterhouse, the pastureland, and the houses and recreation areas, which makes it possible to understand the entire meat production process and its importance on a global scale.
Although Justus Von Liebig never travelled to Fray Bentos, he associated himself with German engineer George Giebert, who settled in Uruguay and began to produce meat extract in Fray Bentos, exporting it to Europe. Liebig’s Extract of Meat, Ltd. was registered in London on 4 December 1865. The Leibig company –with branches in Anglo-Belgian capitals– won prizes at all international exhibitions in which it appeared, thereby promoting its products. Meanwhile, during the Franco-Prussian War, the French under siege in Paris, consumed meat extract. The Fray Bentos label became known throughout the world, particularly with its corned beef.
The Liebig meat packing plant was one of the first places in South America to have electric power. The management installed its own power generator in 1874 to meet production needs.
It illustrates the evolution of the social and economic structure of Uruguay and the region during the 19th and 20th centuries, resulting from the integration and cultural contribution of immigrants of more than 55 nationalities that went to work there.
Similarly, the Aqueduct of the Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System was approved. Located in the Central Mexican Plateau between the states of Mexico and Hidalgo, it was initiated by the Franciscan friar, Padre Tembleque in the 16th century and built with the support of the local indigenous communities. The construction methods used attest to the dual influence of European know-how in hydraulic systems, especially Roman hydraulics, and of the traditional Mesoamerican construction techniques, including the use of adobe. This hydraulic system is basically constituted by a water catchment area, springs, canals, distribution tanks and arcaded aqueduct bridges.
As a result, two new Latin American sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015.
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