Uruguayans who profess a religion are almost exclusively Roman Catholic, but the Church and state are officially separate. Other religions have made small inroads: there is a small Jewish community in Montevideo, several evangelical Protestant groups and traces of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church.

Uruguayans are voracious meat eaters and the parrillada (beef platter) is a national standard. Another standard is chivito, a tasty and substantial steak sandwich with all the trimmings. Typical snacks include olimpicos (club sandwiches) and hungaros (spicy sausage wrapped in a hot dog roll). Tea or mate is quaffed in enormous quantities. Clerico, a mixture of white wine and fruit juice, and medio y medio, part sparkling wine and part white wine, are popular, and the beer is pretty good.

The country's show-stopper is the annual Carnaval, which takes place on the Monday and Tuesday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday. Montevideo's staid reputation takes a battering during this time as a brace of drummers and costumed revelers advance along its streets. Holy Week (Easter) or La Semana Criolla offers traditional activities like asados (barbecues), horse-breaking, cowboy stunt riding and folk music.

Montevideo has had theatres since the Casa de Comedias opened in 1795, followed by the Teatro San Felipe. The Teatro Solis, still in existence, was opened in 1856. The city also houses the Museo Historico Nacional (1900), the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (1837), the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (1911), and the Biblioteca Nacional del Uruguay (1816). In addition to Batlle y Ordonez Park, site of the football stadium, recreational facilities include many other parks, as well as a line of beaches extending east to Punta del Este, on the Atlantic Ocean.

Montevideo is a picturesque place of colonial Spanish, Italian and Art Deco styles. Most attention is focused on the Ciudad Vieja, the old city built on a peninsula close to the port and harbor, and the commercial center, located around Plaza Independencia to the east.

To get your bearings in the city center, take a walk from Plaza Independencia, the grandest of Montevideo's squares, through the Ciudad Vieja to the port. On the plaza is the black-marbled Mauseleo de Artigas, topped by an enormous statue of the national hero, and the 26-story Palacio Salvo, the tallest building in South America when built in 1927 and still the tallest in the city today. The Plaza Constitucion, neoclassical Cabildo and the Iglesia Matriz, the oldest public building (1799) in the city, are further west.

Other important sights in the area include the Museo Historico Nacional, which consists of four different homes filled with historical effects, and the Museo del Gaucho y de la Moneda, which houses an impressive display of artefacts from Uruguay's gaucho (cowboy) past. Also, don't miss the Mercado del Puerto, once the finest port in South America, and now a colorful, lively center filled with markets, restaurants, artists and street musicians. The Feria de Tristan Narvaja is an outdoor market peddling groceries, antiques and souvenirs. A handful of sandy beaches stretch along the metropolitan waterfront and are popular excursions for the city's residents on summer weekends.