Location

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento (formerly the Portuguese Colónia do Sacramento) is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the departamento of Colonia. It has a population of 21,714 (2004 census).
It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site. Modern Colonia del Sacramento produces textiles and has a free trade zone, in addition to a polytechnic center and various government buildings.

History

Founded in 1680 by Portugal as Colónia do Sacramento, the colony was later disputed by the Spanish who settled on the opposite bank of the river at Buenos Aires. The colony was conquered by José de Garro in 1680, but returned to Portugal the next year. It was conquered again by the Spanish in March 1705 after a siege of five months, but given back in the Treaty of Utrecht. Another attack during the Spanish-Portuguese War, 1735-1737, failed.
It kept changing hands from crown to crown due to treaties such as the Treaty of Madrid in 1750 and the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777, until it remained with the Spanish. It then transferred to Portuguese control again, and later to the Brazilians after 1816, when the entire Banda Oriental (Uruguay) was seized by the Rio de Janeiro government and renamed the Cisplatina province.
Now part of the independent country of Uruguay, Colonia del Sacramento has expanded to the north and east, but the original Barrio Histórico (historic quarter) retains its irregular, terrain-fitting street plan built by the Portuguese, contrasting with the wider, orthogonal calles in the newer Spanish area.

Points of interest

The Barrio Histórico (historic quarter) section of Colonia del Sacramento is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is a popular tourist attraction for visitors from Buenos Aires, and there is frequent ferry service across the Río de la Plata between the two cities, with hydrofoils completing the journey in just 50 minutes. The historical section of Colonia, which has some cobblestone streets built by the Portuguese in the 17th century, is within walking distance of the ferry terminal. Among the notable visitor attractions around the tree-lined Plaza Mayor (main square) are:

*Portón de Campo – the City Gate and wooden drawbridge
*Lighthouse and convent ruins of the 17th century Convent of San Francisco
*Basilica del Sanctísimo Sacramento – the Basilica of the Holy Sacrament, built of stone by the Portuguese in 1808
*Portuguese Museum – constructed in the 18th century, it exhibits Portuguese furnishings, jewellry, uniforms and old maps of Portuguese naval expeditions
*Casa de Nacarello – an 18th century Portuguese house
*Municipal Museum – rebuilt by the Spanish in 1835 as the Casa del Almirante Brown, it exhibits artifacts and documents of the city's different periods and cultures
*Viceroy's House – the Casa del Virrey, reconstructed from the original ruins
*Iglesia Matriz – the oldest church in Uruguay, dating from 1695-99
*Plaza de toros Real de San Carlos, a Bullring included in an old tourist complex now abandoned.