Landing of the 33 Patriots Day is a national holiday in Uruguay. Originally held on April 19th, this public holiday is currently observed on the Monday closest to the day.
What is the day about?
It honours Juan Lavelleja's and his 33 exiled Uruguayan fighters' homecoming in 1825, when they swore an oath to liberate their country from Brazilian rule.
The patriots are also known as the 33 Orientals since Uruguay was known as the Band Oriental ('Eastern Bank') of the Rio de la Plata ('River Plate') and Argentina being the western bank.
The beginning of the nineteenth century was a tumultuous moment for the Banda Oriental, with possession passing through the hands of the English, Spanish, and Portuguese in less than a decade.
José Gervasio Artigas, the region's anticolonial hero, was forced into exile in Argentina in 1820, and by 1822, Banda Oriental had become a province of Brazil following its independence from Portugal.
In 1825, a group of Uruguayan fighters exiled with Artigas returned under the leadership of Juan Antonio Lavalleja, an Artigas compatriot.
On April 19th, they crossed the Plata River and landed on Agraciada Beach on the eastern side. They erected a flag with blue, white, and red horizontal bars, the colours of the Banda Oriental, and swore an oath to fight for Uruguay's independence.
Uruguay declared complete independence from Brazil on August 25, 1825. In 1828, the occupying armies honoured the proclamation.