Colonia del Sacramento

Located on a small peninsula watching over the eastern bank of the Río de la Plata, Colonia del Sacramento makes for a great point of entry into Uruguay. The town is just an hour’s ferry ride across the river from Buenos Aires, but, even more than that, the history of Uruguay’s oldest town represents the history of the country, wedged between its much larger neighbors Argentina and Brazil.

Colonia was founded in 1680 as a defensive outpost by the Portuguese, who were looking to formalize and solidify the southern border of their colony Brazil against the colonies of Spanish America. The town was the site of intense fighting between Spain and Portugal, and it changed hands between the two colonial powers nearly ten times over the following century and a half, even forming part of the Empire of Brazil for six years until Uruguay won its independence in 1828.

The series of destructions and subsequent reconstructions of the town created a unique fusion of Portuguese and Spanish colonial architecture and urban planning. The buildings combine elements of both styles, while the overall layout of the old town is unique among Spain’s former colonies in that it eschews the grid structure imposed by royal decree, instead allowing its streets to follow the contours of the topography, similar to what can be found in many of Brazil’s colonial centers.

Let yourself wander the streets of the old town, which are so serene that it’s hard to imagine a time when the town was a literal warzone. For lunch, a hearty sandwich from Mi Carrito should do the trick; you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but I recommend the classic chivito, with thinly sliced steak, mozzarella, ham, fried egg, tomatoes, and mayo. For coffee, try Colonia Sandwich Coffee Shop. And for dinner, check out Parrillada El Portón for a classic Uruguayan steakhouse or their sister restaurant, El Otro Portón, for a slightly more refined menu.