Melo (composer, poet, writer) Martin Mendez (bass player for Swedish metal outfit Opeth) Ricardo Moller (footballer) Paolo Montero (footballer) Amado Nervo (Mexican author) Juan Carlos Onetti (writer) Natalia Oreiro (actress, singer) Álvaro Recoba (footballer) Nando Parrado (writer) Maxi Pereira (footballer) Cristina Peri Rossi (writer) Pedro Piedrabuena (billiard player) Olga Piria (painter and goldsmith) Arturo C. Porzecanski (Wall Street economist) Rubén Rada (Musician) Andy Ram (Israeli tennis player) José Enrique Rodó (philosopher) Rubén Rodríguez (footballer) Mariano Rubbo (Uruguayan footballer) Gabe Saporta (musician and entrepreneur) Carlos Savio (footballer) Erwin Schrott (operatic bass-baritone) Jorge Speranza (soccer coach and former soccer player) Jules Supervielle (French author) Joaquín Torres-García (painter) Obdulio Varela (footballer) Tabaré Vázquez (president of Uruguay) Helen Velando (author) Margarita Xirgu (Spanish actress) China Zorrilla (actress) José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (sculptor) Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (poet) Elena Zuasti (stage actress) Recreation Museums The Centro Cultural de España, as well as Asturian and cultural centers, testify to Montevideo's considerable Spanish heritage. Montevideo also has important museums including Museo Torres García, Museo José Gurvich, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales and Museo Juan Manuel Blanes etc. The Montevideo Cabildo was the seat of government during the colonial times of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It is located in front of Constitution Square, in Ciudad Vieja. Built between 1804 and 1869 in Neoclassical style, with a series of Doric and Ionic columns, it became a National Heritage Site in 1975. In 1958, the Municipal Historic Museum and Archive was inaugurated here. It features three permanent city museum exhibitions, as well as temporary art exhibitions, cultural events, seminars, symposiums and forums. The Palacio Taranco is located in front of the Plaza Zabala, in the heart of Ciudad Vieja. It was erected in the early 20th century as the residence of the Ortiz Taranco brothers on the ruins of Montevideo's first theater (of 1793), during a period in which the architectural style was influenced by French architecture. The palace was designed by French architects Charles Louis Girault and Jules-Léon Chifflot who also designed the Petit Palais and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It passed to the city from the heirs of the Tarancos in 1943, along with its precious collection of Uruguayan furniture and draperies and was deemed by the city as an ideal place for a museum; in 1972 it became the Museum of Decorative Arts of Montevideo and in 1975