Colonia del Sacramento

I've spent the past day in Colonia del Sacramento, which is Uruguay's oldest town, founded by the Portuguese in 1680. The main reason for coming to Colonia is to visit its colonial-era Barrio Histórico (Historic District), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Colonia is located just across the Río Plata from Buenos Aires, so on weekends in summer it tends to be packed with Argentinian tourists, but at this time of year it couldn't really be more peaceful. The Barrio Histórico is pretty small, so don't worry, this post won't be very long.

I started my visit at the Portón de Campo, which is the reconstructed 18th century City Gate. Just to the left of the Portón de Campo is a piece of the original city wall, leading down towards the river. From there I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Barrio Histórico, which is quite picturesque, and full of sycamore-lined streets such as this one, and buildings like this 17th century Portuguese house, and this slightly more modern colonial house in the Plaza Mayor. In the nearby Plaza de Armas I saw the Iglesia Matriz, which is Uruguay's oldest church, dating from 1699.

I also visited Colonia's lighthouse, which was constructed directly in the middle of the ruins of the Convento de San Francisco, which was destroyed by fire in 1704. The lighthouse is the closest Colonia has to a Torre Antel (see my previous post about Montevideo), so of course I went up to the top of it to get a view of the Barrio Histórico, as well as a view of the Río de la Plata (below).

If you look closely enough, the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires are just about visible on the horizon on the left-hand side of that photo - they're a bit easier to see in this photo though (you might need to zoom in). That's how close I am to my final destination, and I'll be catching the ferry there later this morning.