Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia del Sacramento was Portugal's attempt to fix the southern border of Brazil on the Río de la Plata. In January 1680 Manuel Lobo arrived with five ships carrying about 400 soldiers, craftsmen and stonecutters and founded the settlement opposite Buenos Aires. The Spanish governor of Buenos Aires answered with a force of thousands that captured the town that August; a treaty in 1681 handed it back to Portugal. Smuggling into Spanish territory and hunting wild cattle in the countryside became the colony's economy.

For almost a century the town passed back and forth. Spanish forces besieged it in 1704–05 during the War of the Spanish Succession, until the colonists were evacuated by sea; the Treaty of Utrecht returned it to Portugal. Another attack failed in the war of 1735–37, the Treaty of Madrid of 1750 was never carried out, and Spain took and then returned the town again in the 1760s before the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777 made it Spanish. Most of the Portuguese wall across the peninsula was pulled down that year, and more in 1859. Portugal and then Brazil ruled the town again after 1816, when the whole territory became the province of Cisplatina.

After Uruguayan independence the town grew north and east on a regular grid, while the Portuguese quarter kept its irregular street plan. In 1995 the Barrio Histórico was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The historic quarter is a lesson in two empires. Portuguese lanes follow the slope of the land, with low stone houses and cobbles laid in the 17th century, while the Spanish town beyond the wall was planned in a checkerboard. Small museums — Portuguese, Spanish, municipal, indigenous, tile and naval — tell the story of the frontier, and the Casa Nacarello beside the main square is also run as a museum.

The town looks across the river to Buenos Aires, and visitors from Argentina shape much of its life, from weekend crowds in the old quarter to the family ties shared across the water. Watching the sun go down over the Río de la Plata, often from the Bastión de San Pedro at the south-western tip, is an evening ritual.

At Real de San Carlos, north of the centre, the bullring was built in 1909 and closed when bullfighting was banned in 1912. After a century of decay it was restored in 2021 and now hosts concerts and sporting events. Around Independence Day on 25 August, a festival with horse racing is held at the racecourse beside it. Mate and the weekend asado are as central here as anywhere in Uruguay.

The 2023 census counted about 32,000 people in Colonia del Sacramento, the capital of Colonia Department. Beyond tourism, the town makes textiles and has a free-trade zone, a polytechnic centre and the department's government offices.

The port is a gateway between Uruguay and Argentina. Three ferry lines run to Buenos Aires, and the crossings carry millions of passengers a year, so the town's rhythm follows the boats: busy around arrivals and departures and at weekends, calm in between. Most residents live in the newer town around Avenida General Flores and the residential streets along the riverfront rather than in the old quarter, where many houses are now restaurants, shops and small hotels.

Days are unhurried, with late meals, evening walks on the waterfront and mate shared on benches by the river. Winter is quieter, with fewer visitors in the old town. The waterfront promenade, the small river beaches and the plazas are where residents spend summer evenings and weekends.

Colonia eats much as the rest of Uruguay does. Parrillas grill beef, sausages and offal over wood embers; the chivito, a steak sandwich layered with ham, cheese and egg, is a standard order; and pizza and fresh pasta show the country's Italian roots. Fainá, a thin chickpea-flour flatbread, is eaten with pizza, and ice-cream shops are popular on summer evenings.

The department is dairy country. Its Swiss and Waldensian farming colonies inland make hard cheeses, including the one sold across Uruguay simply as queso Colonia, and farm butter and dulce de leche turn up on local tables. Tannat, Uruguay's flagship red grape, is grown in vineyards in the department and is the usual wine with grilled meat.

In the old quarter, restaurants occupy colonial houses with tables in the lanes and on the squares; on Avenida General Flores the cafés, bakeries and bars are where residents eat. Mate accompanies everything between meals, often with bizcochos, small pastries from the bakery.