The neighborhood emerged in the first half of the 19th century, when the city walls were demolished, and a part of the population –mainly
Afro-Uruguayans, who had been freed after the abolition of slavery in 1842– began to settle in the southern area of the city, living in
tenements called
conventillos, such as the
Mediomundo. The first inhabitants of the neighborhood maintained some of the rituals of their countries of origin. From these rituals the
Candombe was born. Starting at the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, the area was inhabited by thousands of
European immigrants. Due to this, the neighborhood became a
melting pot of Afro-Uruguayan,
Spanish,
Italian, and
Jewish cultures. The southwest area of the neighborhood was part of
El Bajo,
red-light district that also included part of the south of Ciudad Vieja, and which contained a large number of cabarets and brothels. It was demolished in the 1930s due to the construction of the south
rambla. ==Culture==