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ESTE (ES-tay)

1. The House of Este is a European princely dynasty
2. Punta del Este: An upscale resort on the southern tip of Uruguay
3. A town of northern Italy
4. East in Spanish
Common clues: Renaissance family; Noble Italian name; Villa d'_____; Punta del ____; Ferrara family name; Town near Padua; 90 degrees from norte; Spanish direction
Crossword puzzle frequency: 8 times a year
Frequency in English language: 63653 / 86800
Video:
Punta del Este


The House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches: the elder branch is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf, and the younger branch as the House of Fulc-Este or later simply as the House of Este.



Isabella d’Este was eager to have Leonardo da Vinci do a portrait of her. The drawing above (probably sketched in Mantua in 1500) is probably a study for that portrait. It is thought that Leonardo lost interest in the project and avoided her as much as possible. She spent the next four years insisting, offering commissions, and begging, but it is almost certain that the project was never completed.


The elder branch of the House of Este, the House of Welf, produced dukes of Bavaria (1070–1139, 1156–1180), dukes of Saxony (1138–1139, 1142–1180), a German king (1198–1218), dukes and electors of Brunswick and Lüneburg (1208–1918), kings of Hanover (1815–1866), and monarchs of the United Kingdom (1714–1901).


The younger branch of the House of Este included rulers of Ferrara (1240–1597), and Modena and Reggio (1288–1796).


***


Punta del Este is an upscale resort on the southern tip of Uruguay, southeast of Maldonado and about 140 km east of Montevideo. Although the town has a year-round population of about 7,300, the summer tourist boom often boosts the population by an extra 500,000.




The first Europeans to set foot in what is now Punta del Este were the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century. However, the colonization of the area actually began around Maldonado at the end of the 18th century due to Portuguese expansionism. Punta del Este and its surroundings (Maldonado and Punta Ballena for example) at the end of the 19th century were kilometers of sand and dunes, but in 1896 Antonio Lussich bought 4,447 acres of uninhabited land and there he started a botanic garden and planted trees and plants from all over the world.


Later the trees started to spread on their own, and now the area is full mostly of Pines, Eucalyptus, Acacias and various species of bushes (Quite similar to Australian flora). Punta del Este hosted a Latin American Summit in 1967 attended by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. In September 1986, Punta del Este played host to the start of the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations. These negotiations ultimately led to the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994.


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Este is a town and comune of the Province of Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Euganei Hills. The town is a centre for farming, crafts and industry worthy of note.




During the Iron Age Este was a major centre of the Veneti and later, during the 2nd century BC, it became a Roman colony. In the Late Antiquity, Este was wrecked by barbarian invasions and arose again only after the 10th century, when Azzo II d'Este built a castle there and named himself and his family after it.


The House of Este held the city until 1240, when they moved their capital to Ferrara. Este was conquered twice by Ezzelino da Romano III, in 1238 and 1249, and disputed during the 14th century by the Scaligeri, the Carraresi and the Visconti, until it surrendered spontaneously to Venice in 1405.


Under the Republic of Venice, Este went through a period of economic growth, interrupted only by the plague of 1630. After the fall of the Republic and the Napoleonic Wars, the town, with the whole Veneto region, became part of the Austrian Empire, until it was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy as a consequence of the Third Independence War of 1866.


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Spanish compass points






This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Este" and “Punta Del Este” and “Este, Italy”.