Cerro Catedral

Where is Cerro Catedral?

Cerro Catedral is part of the Sierra Carapé, Cuchilla Grande.

You will find it in: Uruguay.

Summit: 34.382° S, 54.674° W

The story behind it

Uruguay is a country of wide pastures and slow rivers, so a hill of a few hundred metres already counts as a mountain here. Cerro Catedral sits in the Sierra Carapé, a band of low rocky ridges that crosses the south-east, and its top is a crown of grey stone blocks poking through grass and low bushes. People say the name, which means Cathedral Hill, comes from the way those blocks stand up like towers when the evening light falls on them. Cattle graze on the slopes below, hawks circle over the open land, and from the summit the view runs over hills, farms and, on a very clear day, a distant glint of the Atlantic. A dirt track and a footpath bring walkers close to the top, so the climb is short but the wind up there can be strong.

Find it on the globe

Cerro Catedral is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.