The 20 best known Uruguayan Stories (and their meaning)

From natural phenomena, inexplicable events, to the very history of the ancient aborigines, the legends and Myths that exist in Uruguay show the reflection of a rich and constant culture, where change is the rule principal. Many of these stories are not just bedtime stories, they are they belong faithfully to the culture and are rooted in the popular beliefs of the locals, since they affirm that in truth they did exist. Do you want to know them? Join us on this exciting journey.

• We recommend you read: "The 16 best Bolivian stories (history, origin and meaning)"

Best popular stories from Uruguay and their meaning

In this article we bring you a compilation with the best stories from Uruguayan cities.

1. Yerba Mate

This is considered one of the oldest legends in the whole country and is about the ancestral origin of the most popular drink in the nation: mate. There are several versions of this legend, but next we will relate the one of Caá-Yaríi.

An old Indian who belonged to a nomadic tribe decided to stay somewhere in the jungle, since he He considered himself too old and tired to continue, so he decided to take refuge with his beautiful daughter Yarii. One day, at the cabin where they both lived, a young man of unknown and peculiar appearance arrived, who was warmly received and offered his typical dishes.

This young man was sent from God to reward both of them for their kind deeds every time they received a traveler, so that he made a plant sprout and baptized Yarii as his protector goddess and his father, Cáa Yaráa, taught him how use it, drying its branches in the fire and with this being able to prepare an exquisite infusion.

2. The Lobizón

His name comes from the Portuguese ‘lobis-homen’ and It is a creature that lurks in the deepest places of southern South America. Although now we will tell the Uruguayan Guarani legend of this. It is said that he was the last male son of Tau and Keraná, belonging in turn to the so-called 7 monsters of Guaraní mythology.

It has a wolfish appearance since every Friday full moon transforms into a half-man, half-werewolf creature of enormous size, with large eyes full of fire, a fur as dark as night itself and giving off an odor nauseating. He spends the whole night wandering until dawn, noticing his presence only the dogs, who howl but do not attack him.

They also say that the only way to kill a Lobisón is with a knife or a blessed bullet, like this can transform into a human and free himself from his eternal punishment.

3. The 7 Guarani monsters

This is the myth that originated the Lobisón. It recounts the tragic fate of a beautiful young woman named Keraná she (which means "sleepyhead", since she slept a long time), daughter of Marangatu, who one day was involved in the conquests of an evil being called Tau, who transformed into an ordinary young man to try to seduce her and take it with you. However, Angatupry, the god of good, sensed his intentions and fought against Tau, defeating him. Still, this did not prevent the being from abducting Kerana.

Therefore, Arasy, the goddess of the heavens, cursed them, causing them to procreate 7 monster children who are the guardians of various elements of nature:

• Teyú: ‘lizard-dog’ (lord of the caves and protector of fruits)
• Mbói Tui: has parrot legs and snake body (protector of amphibians)
• Moñái: she also has the body of a snake and two horns on her head (protector of the fields)
• Yasi Jatere: with a humanoid figure, she possesses a staff with which she enchants children, whom she makes deaf and dumb.
• Kurupi: also possesses a humanoid form, it is said that he kidnaps women to make them pregnant. They give birth at 7 months but their babies die within 7 days.
• Ao Ao: he is considered the deity of fertility, he has a sheep appearance but with the face of a boar.
• Lobizón: We related his story previously. It is said that the natives used to sacrifice the seventh son of their lineage, since they believed that he could be possessed by this monster.

4. The meadow tree

This is one of the best known horror stories in Uruguay. It happens in the famous Parque de los Prados in 1930, where two young lovers met in secret because, because they were from different social strata, their love was forbidden and they would be condemned.

However, the young woman's father became suspicious of her growing outings and sent to spy on her, discovering her secret love for her. He confronted her and ordered that she never see the young man again and to make sure even more to drive them away, she went to claim the boy's family, creating an enmity between them.

Young people kept trying to see each other secretly and they even planned to escape, but were discovered. So, they made a drastic decision: if they couldn't love each other in this life, then it would be in the afterlife. Thus, one day they saw each other and walked until sunset where they kissed for the last time and took their own lives.

The next day they found their bodies, many were horrified while others applauded their act of love. Since then it is said that at night the couple can still be seen walking through the tree and there are even those who go with their lovers to sit in that same place.

5. The Mermaid of the Uruguay River

One of the classic legends of the country as far as mythology is concerned. It tells of the appearance of an enigmatic creature that is frequently seen by the fishermen of Montevideo, more specifically in Río de la Plata, but it has a peculiarity and it is that she is far from being a sister of the creatures described in the Hellenic cycle, since the mermaid of Uruguay has a humanoid appearance, tentacles with claws, thick hair like a handful of surubí whiskers, grayish skin full of rashes that serves as camouflage and bright yellow toad eyes that do not tolerate the light.

As a curiosity, many affirm that this is not a legend and that in fact numerous sightings have been recorded of the creature on the shores of El Salto and can even be seen frequently at sunset near the port or in the middle of the sea.

6. Lady in blue

This is a popular story from Montevideo and there is even a song inspired by this apparition and its history. This occurs in the twentieth century, where a young woman named Margarita Salvo lived in a large house next to her beloved servants, located in Agraciada, almost Buschental. They said that she was a beautiful and smiling young woman who loved to wear blue in all seasons.

However, a strange disease began to consume herher, quenching her spirit and taking her away from the streets of the Prado that she loved so much to travel, although more than her illness, it was her confinement that was of her killing her, reaching the point of making her lose her sanity because more and more stormy laments were heard in her mansion until the day of her death.

The employees, saddened by the loss of their young beloved, decided to maintain the life of the place as long as possible but soon they realized certain facts Mysterious, such as the concern that Margarita's portrait manifested, they also saw at night how the gates were opened and the fireplace was lit from the nothing. But the most shocking fact was that on those nights the figure in her portrait disappeared, as if she was escaping from the frames and wandering around her house.

Later, this apparition would extend to the streets of the Prado themselves, where the villagers still say they see a young woman walking with her blue dress.

7. The Bad Light

This is an extremely popular myth but at the same time it has a scientific explanation and, even so, the locals do not give up their early beliefs. Is about the nocturnal appearance of a very peculiar and bright light that appears to float a few meters above the ground and may be immobile, in motion, or stagnant on the horizon There are stories where it is claimed that this light can even persecute people.

An explanation for this phenomenon has been found and it is that this occurs due to the reflection of the moonlight in the middle of the night on the bones of carcasses in the fields, producing an effect of light that people misinterpret, as they believe that it is this light that kills the cows.

8. The Beggar in the Tunnel of October 8

This is a slightly more modern story. He tells how in a tunnel that connects the streets of October 8 with July 18 in Montevideo he witnessed a terrible event. Just as this tunnel was inaugurated, a man in a total state of drunkenness embarked on this site, disoriented he took the wrong route and he was run over by a trolleybus, dying instantly.

Since then, the locals affirm that a curse has fallen in that tunnel, since it is possible to observe the appearance of man drunk crossing the road when cars go by at high speed and disappears before impact, repeating the experience over and over time.

It is also said that no one dares to cross the tunnel on foot because they meet the ghost of man and he does not let them find the exit.

9. The Pass of the Cross

The story tells that a man who was at the same time kind and sinful walked constantly along the Yí River and possessed a talisman given by an old sorcerer Indian, which he had the power to make up for all his mistakes and erase them completely until he becomes an example for his neighbors and anyone who knew him.

Still, this quality of kindness and mystery aroused unsettling envy in other people, believing that the man possessed a great treasure. So to find out, they attacked and killed him by leaving his body on the ground.

Not being able to be buried, her soul wandered in the form of bluish light and it caused terror to all those who approached the area where it was. Out of fear, the locals began to place crosses in her honor and a tree grew in the shape of a cross, as a sign that this was now blessed land.

10. Devil's Point

This is a small town in Uruguay where the settlers have their own mysterious legend. They say that several years ago, a huge mansion was built on the stone coast, whose owner and purpose were completely unknown, there are those who said that it was a millionaire woman who wanted to keep her identity a secret.

But the mystery remained not only for the beauty of the construction but for the realization itself, since at that time there were no roads to transport the materials.

Currently, tourist visits are organized around the town until reaching the enigmatic mansion, the which has a lighthouse and its own landing strip and whose identity of the owner remains a mystery. Although it is said that there are a few old townspeople who know the truth, but they are not willing to talk about it to make the mystery prevail.

11. The Charrúas: The Tribe of Honor

If you are a soccer fan, you will know then that Uruguay's national team is also known as the Charrúas, which was an ancient tribe of Indian warriors highly feared by locals and aborigines.

They were also the only ones to resist and win the invasion of the Spanish, British and Portuguese. However, they suffered a fateful fate at the hands of the first government of Uruguay in 1833, through the genocide of its people, the expulsion of some and the enslavement of the rest. Specifically 4 of them, who were sold to be exhibited in Paris.

Is It was a tribe that, it is said, was exiled from the Guaraní lands, but that with each failure they learned a valuable lesson that made them stronger, since they achieved spread throughout Uruguay, southern Brazil and part of Argentina, coming to be considered heroes of the modern nation. In 2002, the remains of Vaimaca-Peru, the chief sold to France, were returned to Uruguay where they were received with honors.

12. The ghost mother

This popular tale takes place on the highway that connects Salto, Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where drivers who drive this road for work, claim to see a desperate and very badly injured woman asking for help yelling at whoever she can stop and help her.

Between tears, the woman begs them to help rescue her little baby from her crashed car after a road accident. When they lean out they can see the small bundle and after struggling and maneuvering they manage to rescue it. However, when they turn around they are surprised that the woman is gone, they feel how the little one vanishes from their arms and that there is no visible shock.

This apparition is said to be the remnant of a woman who had an accident on the road and for hours she desperately asked for help but no one stopped to help her. And because of this, she and her baby passed away. But she comes back to test driver awareness.

If they stop to help her they can follow her path, if they ignore her a terrible accident awaits them later.

13. The beheaded woman from Los Molles stream

This legend comes from the result of a crime of passion which took place in the twentieth century, where a married couple lived in a town near the Los Molles stream. The woman was a beautiful, flirtatious lady accustomed to the attention of gentlemen, while her husband was very proud and impulsive. At first, the marriage seemed to be going well, but the woman resented the lack of admiration of the other men and therefore she neglected the role of her wife.

One day, her husband decided to keep a watch on her, as he was making senseless excuses and all of her every time because she was sneaking up on a young suitor. When the husband discovers her infidelity, an immense and blinding rage seized him and threatened her wife with killing her if she did not tell him the truth.

She tried to dissuade him, but she could not escape the present evidence: some love letters from the young man. When he admitted it, the man, without thinking, cut off his wife's head. After seeing what he had done, the husband panicked and remorse, so he wrapped the body of the woman, he tied it with bristles and put some stones to make them weigh and sink into the stream.

Some time later, he left town, a prisoner of guilt and no one ever heard from him again. However yeah They claim to see the headless body of his wife wandering the banks of the riverThey even say that he waits for the riders who try to cross the stream to get on his horse.

The bravest do not look back and can feel how she gets off after crossing the waters, but If they can't resist the temptation and turn around, she throws them into the river to drown them and share her tragedy.

14. The errant

It is said that at the height of the CALNU sugar bowl, a legend originated that travels the place by word of mouth from the locals. It happened in the vicinity of Bella Unión, department of Artigas, where in the ascents of this there was a very dangerous curve that he saw tragic accidents very often, one of them being a major investor in the sugar mill that came from Montevideo.

Many claim that while traveling through that site they ran into a strange man in an old suit, hat and briefcase, asking for a ride as he goes to CALNU. When this rises he claims to be an important investor who is going to do business and can be seen as someone kind and courteous, until he reaches his destination, then he says goodbye with a cold tone to fade into the air.

15. The Churrinche

After a severe and bloody combat between tribes, the natives decided to take refuge near the banks of the river to regain strength and heal their wounds. However, the chief could not survive these and succumbed on earth. Before dying and fearing the fate that awaited him at the hands of his enemies, he took out his heart and turned it into a fiery red wondrous bird.

This bird took flight and managed to take refuge in the native forests singing a melody that resembled a screech.

16. Mystery at the Maroñas racecourse

On a cold night, four friends, after returning from a party, decide, to cut their way, jump over the back of the Maroñas complex to cross the racetrack. But the further they went, the night grew inhospitable and the moonlight made it seem complex to lengthen, creating ghostly figures and a thick mist that made it impossible to orientation.

In the middle of that, they hear a distant and sharp noise that was growing in intensity, resembling horse hooves until all was eerily silent, only to be broken by the furious gallop of a horse. The friends, running in terror, warning the rider, saw how the noise ceased to appear in a different place.

After managing to escape and calm down in their homes, they decide to return within three days to verify if the event occurred or was just their imagination. When they returned, everything was still, but the unequivocal noise of the gallop echoed with more force and violence, frightening the friends twice, who this time thought they would not make it out. Suddenly, they meet the old guard of the complex, who calmly asks them what they are doing there.

While the young people recounted their experience, the old man did not seem surprised and he assured him that he himself had heard the noise of the gallops hundreds of times. These they were due to the souls in pain of the horses that were seriously injured and were sacrificed in a pool that no longer exists. Thus, in the dark nights, the souls of the horses relive the race that led them to perish.

17. The curve of death

This curve no longer exists today. In its place is the oceanographic museum, but at the time of its existence it was a place that hosted multiple road accidents due to how dangerous it was to take that route. But more than that, it was said that some people had accidents because in the middle of the road and without any warning, a mysterious presence appeared around the curve to warn them not to cross it, but these inevitably ended colliding.

It is also said that if you did not find this being, you could see people crossing the road from one side to another while driving causing more tragedies. After so many reports, the government decided to collapse the curve and build the museum. Since then, locals claim that lost souls have found peace by seeing that there is no longer any danger from that curve.

18. The Aparecida of Diving

This typical legend of Montevideo and one of the best known by the locals, has several versions, but they all converge at the same point and it is the one that we will tell next.

This is the story of the Aparecida del Buceo, where it is said that two friends went to dance on a Saturday night in the well-known nightclubs that were held on weekends. When one of them saw a beautiful woman with dark complexion and hair whom he invited to dance and later took to her house, also lending her a scarf to shelter her from the cold.

The next day, the boy went to her house to retrieve her scarf as an excuse to see her again, but he was treated by her father who, indignant and hurt, claimed him for her bad joke. Her daughter was dead.

Suspecting him, the family accused him of his death, but after going to the cemetery with the police, they could see the scarf that he had lent them on the girl's grave.

19. Indian legend of the Palace Grotto

The Gruta del Palacio is located in the department of Flores, near the city of Trinidad. This was known to be the home of the indigenous tribes and was called "the Palace of the Indians." Getting there requires traversing the old Route 3 layout and it has enchanted locals and tourists alike for its unusual rock structures and cylinder-shaped columns.

For many years the theory was that they were built by Indians, but today it is known that they are natural geological formations.

Legend has it that this was the residence of the chief of the Charrúas and whose wife, Darien (daughter of parents who saw the Gulf of Panama), He claimed that the treasure of his ancestors was hidden there. At first, it was the home of Darien, since her parents settled there until his death by the Chanás.

It is still said that an immense amount of treasures is hidden in that place but that no one has been able to find it and never will.

20. Room 32

This myth takes place in the Gran Hotel Concordia, located in the center of Salto, being the oldest hotel in the whole country, which is why important figures of all times, from presidents, businessmen to artists, have stayed in it. Today it still stands and received, in 2005, the commemoration of a National Historic Monument.

However, due to its old character, this hotel does not escape the paranormal events reported by guests and workers, the most popular being that of room number 32. Where they claim to hear murmurs of men in a chat, but when they open the door, these voices vanish.

People say that it all started in 1933 when Carlos Gardel stayed with his orchestra to give a show at the Ariel Theater, the occasion was so memorable and joyous that the hotel owners They ordered that the room (number 32) remain intact, as if preserving the memory of that particular visit.