Uruguay Part 3

Colonia del Sacramento

Sunday 8th December, 2013 we left here early to drive 4 1/2 hours to Colonia del Sacramento, or in our case somewhat longer, after getting lost in Montevideo for a while. Had we travelled further around the port the first time we were in the city we would have realised that was the most direct route. Maps here are somewhat deceiving and no one way streets are marked.

Once on the highway out of Montevideo, it is a pretty straightforward journey. Entering Colonia del Sacramento is very impressive as the main road is lined with huge palm trees either side. Amazingly we found our hotel right away even though it was tucked down a little old street with no sign depicting that there was even a hotel there.

Colonia del Sacramento is a Medieval walled city, centred around the old port, now the yacht club. The new town is an extension of the old but although quite separate merges quite seamlessly. However even the new town is old. Not knowing what the hotels would be like in such an old place, with mostly street parking only, we elected to stay at the Radisson. We thought it might be a little out of place until we arrived and found that it was for the most part hidden, not detracting from the authenticity of the locale, underground parking, beautiful rooms and an infinity pool.

There is a ferry from the new port to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is directly opposite, on the other side of the Rio de la Plata and many people travel back and forth for day trips.

Colonia del Sacramento was founded by Manuel Lobo in 1680 and initially belonged to Portugal. Over the next 100 plus years, the town, now a city, changed hands numerous times between the Portuguese and the Spanish, eventually being incorporated into the Independent country of Uruguay. The city has since expanded to the north and east but the Barrio Historica (Historical District) remains essentially unchanged.

The district is not that vast, up hill and down dale, covering approximately 40 acres of land, which we were able to circumnavigate quite easily in the time we had available, with the exception of visiting the various museums. That being said, we climbed the 118 steps, of the very narrow spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse, for the magnificent views across the Rio de la Plata and the old city. ((20 Uruguayan pesos or 1 us$) The lighthouse was commissioned January 24th, 1857, is solar powered, flashes every 8 seconds and has a graphical reach of 16.5 nautical miles. The city is built topographically, according to the suitability of the land and not on the Spanish grid system, making it unique for that time period. The city gate constructed around 1735 had a moat, now a lawn and a drawbridge. The gate and the drawbridge have recently been restored. The streets are very quaint, the first ones being of Portuguese influence and the latter Spanish. The streets are all cobbled and many are tree lined, with the older ones being less uniform in structure than the later Spanish era. There is a very interesting central square where it is thought that a community well existed. The cathedral is quite magnificent but we were unable to see inside due to a religious service being in progress at that time. Good walking footwear is highly recommended for the uneven footing.

Colonia del Sacramento is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a site to behold it certainly is. With not too much imagination one can definitely envisage life as it was 300 years ago.......