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April 11, 2011

What to do in Colonia del Sacramento



When you visit Colonia, you will arrive at the port, few blocks away from the heart of the Barrio Histórico (old town). It's easy to cover Colonia on foot, but there are also bicycles, mopeds, cars and even golf carts for rent at the port's entrance.


The history of Colonia - founded in 1680 - is a dizzying tale of territorial struggle between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns for most of the 17th and 18th centuries. Peace finally descended in 1778, when Portugal acquiesced. For a physical sense of the town's early days, walk through the “Puerta de Campo”, the restored city gate dating from 1745. Enter from Plaza 1811, next to a tourist information stand. On the Plaza de Armas Manuel Lobo, wooden walkways with plaques showing early plans guide you around the ruins of the earliest foundations.


Off the plaza are the simple white walls of the Iglesia Matriz, the oldest church in Uruguay. Though thoroughly resto red and reconstructed, traces of the original edifice are still visible, and the cool interior contains colonial-era religious art. The museum circuit is another option. For US$ 5, buy a pass (available at the Municipal or Portuguese museums) granting access to the seven small museums in the old town. You can hit them all in one day - they're open 11.30am-5.30pm. Often the real interest is the buildings themselves - all are restored 18th-century Portuguese houses. Part of the Museo Portugués on the Plaza Mayor dates from 1720, and its collection is one of tile more interesting.


But the real pleasure of Colonia is just walking. Explore the Calle de los Suspiros (Street of Sighs) with its huge cobble-stones and typical colonial houses; the active lighthouse, amid the ruins of the 17th-century Convento de San Francisco; and around the limits of the Barrio Histórico along the river, past the disused railway station and on to the Bastión del Carmen, the old town fortification.


For a little more action, tile main street, General Flores, is lined with souvenir shops and cheap eateries. There is also a daily Feria de la Ciudad Artesanal (craft fair) two blocks off Flores, next to the sports ground on Daniel Fosalba. Once you're all walked out, throw yourself down in a plaza or head to the beach on the Rambla Costanera for a great view of the river.

Finally, try Real de San Carlos for something truly fascinating. Located five kilometres (three miles) out of town along the coastal road are the 100year-old remains of an Argentinean playboy's dreams of a leisure complex. You can see the ruins of the Moorish-style bull ring (where just eight fights took place from 1910 to 1912, before the sport was outlawed) and as a theatre. The racetrack, which opened later, in 1942, still functions.

We strongly recommend you to hire a local English speaking guide. Your guide will explain and make sense of what you are looking at. She will put what you are seeing in its historical, religious and cultural context. Send us an e mail and we will handle all the logistics (itinerary, accommodation, food, transportation) for you and probably save you money.





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