Showing 1-17 of 17 results
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Calle de los Suspiros
Famous streets of Colonia's Barrio Histórico include the narrow, roughly cobbled Calle de los Suspiros, lined with tile-and-stucco colonial houses, and the riverfront Paseo de San Gabriel.
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Capilla Jesuítica
The ruined Capilla Jesuítica sits near the river.
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Casa Nacarello
The Casa Nacarello is one of the prettiest colonial homes in town, with period furniture, thick whitewashed walls, wavy glass, original lintels (duck if you're tall!) and a nice courtyard. A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Colonial Houses
Off Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo, tile-and-stucco colonial houses line the narrow, cobbled Calle de los Suspiros.
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Convento de San Francisco
Off the southwest corner of Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo are the ruins of the 17th-century Convento de San Francisco, within which stands the 19th-century faro. The lighthouse provides an excellent view of the old town.
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Faro
Off the southwest corner of Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo are the ruins of the 17th-century Convento de San Francisco, within which stands the 19th-century faro. The lighthouse provides an excellent view of the old town.
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Iglesia Matriz
Historic Colonia's two main squares are the vast Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo and the shady Plaza de Armas, also known as Plaza Manuel Lobo. The latter plaza is the home of Colonia's Iglesia Matriz. The church, begun in 1680, is Uruguay's oldest, though it has been completely rebuilt twice. The plaza also holds the foundations of a house dating from Portuguese times.
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Museo del Azulejo
The dinky Museo del Azulejo is a 17th-century stone house with a sampling of colonial tile work. A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Museo Español
The Museo Español, under renovation at the time of writing, has colonial pottery, clothing and maps. A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Museo Indígena
The Museo Indígena houses Roberto Banchero's personal collection of Charrúa stone tools, exhibits on indigenous history, and an amusing map upstairs showing how many European countries could fit inside Uruguay's borders (it's six!). A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Museo Municipal
The Museo Municipal houses an eclectic collection of treasures including a whale skeleton, an enormous rudder from a shipwreck, historical timelines and a scale model of Colonia c 1762. A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Museo Portugués
The Museo Portugués, in a beautiful old house, holds Portuguese relics including porcelain, furniture, maps, Manuel Lobo's family tree and the old stone shield that once adorned the Portón de Campo. A single ticket covers admission to Colonia's seven historical museums. All keep the same hours and are open six days a week. Closing day varies by museum.
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Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo
At the southwest corner of the plaza are the Casa de Lavalleja (formerly General Lavalleja's residence), the ruins of the 17th-century Convento de San Francisco and the restored 19th-century faro (lighthouse). At the west end, on de San Francisco, the Museo Municipal has antique homewares, dinosaur remains and huge petrified mushrooms. The Casa del Virrey - which was never home to a viceroy - is just to the north.
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Portón de Campo
Colonia's Barrio Histórico is filled with visual delights. It's fun to just wander the streets and the waterfront. The most dramatic way to enter is via the reconstructed 1745 city gate, the Portón de Campo. From here, a thick fortified wall runs south along the Paseo de San Miguel to the river, its grassy slopes popular with sunbathers.
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Puerto Viejo
The Puerto Viejo is now Colonia's yacht harbor and makes for a very pleasant stroll.
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Real de San Carlos
At the turn of the 20th century, Argentine entrepreneur Nicolás Mihanovich spent US$1.5 million building an immense tourist complex 5km north of Colonia at Real de San Carlos. The attractions included a 10,000-seat bullring (made superfluous after Uruguay outlawed bullfights in 1912), a 3000-seat fronton (court) for the Basque sport of jai alai, a hotel-casino and a racecourse.
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Teatro Bastión del Carmen
Teatro Bastión del Carmen is a theater and gallery complex incorporating part of the city's ancient fortifications. It hosts rotating art exhibits and periodic concerts.
Showing 1-17 of 17 results
