Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

Located on a peninsula with the northern side making up the Port, the Ciudad Vieja is the historical center of the City and was once surrounded by protective walls. Argentine forces under Juan Manuel de Rosas besieged the City from 1843 til 1851!! Walk through the streets and witness the architecture of old.

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Enjoyed the best part of a day exploring the old town, it's not huge and pretty much one street in reality but it's quite entertaining, plenty of shops, bars and restaurants with some shady trees to sit under and watch the world - enjoyed ourselves here.

This place is a must when in Montevideo. Just don´t go at night, it gets seedy. Perfectly fine during the day. Lively on Sunday too when the rest of the town is asleep, or across town along the water front.

Go hungry!

Also check out the costume museum next door. It´s inspiring and worth the entrance fee. (which is more expensive for Americans and Europeans than for other South Americans and Uruguayans) It had a very nice display of Carnival traditions in Montevideo when I went. Kinda racist in a very naive manner. Odd.

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Casa Rivera is a neoclassical building constructed in 1802. It was the home of General Fructoso Rivera, the first president of the Uruguayan republic, but now houses a museum of history, with indigenous and colonial objects and paintings.

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-4pm

Admission free

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Mercado del Puerto is an old, covered market full of great parillas. It was opened on October 10, 1868, in the presence of President Lorenzo Batlle and declared a National Historical Monument in 1975. The decorative, wrought ironwork was shipped in from Britain.

It's the best place in Montevideo to eat lunch.

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This museum is the most popular with Italian visitors to Montevideo. Giuseppe Garibaldi, the great Italian nationalist and "Hero of the Two Worlds", stayed here in the 1840s. He moved here with his partner Ana Ribeiro da Silva, in 1841 and worked as a mathematics teacher. They got married here the following year. They had four children, Menotti (born 1840), Rosita (born 1843), Teresita (born 1845) and Ricciotti (born 1847). Anita is said to have taught Giuseppe about the gaucho culture of Uruguay. It was at this time he adopted his trademark clothing, the red shirt, poncho, and sombrero used by the gauchos.

In 1842 Montevideo was besieged by an Argentine army and Garibaldi took command of the Uruguayan fleet and raised an Italian Legion. In 1846 he was victorious in the Battle of San Antonio, which won him a worldwide reputation as a guerrilla leader. Garibaldi returned to his homeland during the revolution of 1848 and eventually achieved the creation of an Italian state in 1860.

Casa Garibaldi is just a small house and it only took me a few minutes to see everything.

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 11am-5pm, Sat 11am-4pm

No one visiting Montevideo should escape to spend one or two days walking through Ciudad Vieja (Old city). The city walk should begin in the Harbour´s markt with its many different cuisines, from the national Parrillada to the french restaurants.
From there in direction to Sarandi street, the pedestrian zone, there are a lot of museum, some art galleries, Cafés, beautiful churches and the best exemples of Art Noveau and colonial architecture.
Following Sarandi Street on the way to Independence Square there are some lather and book stores, Cafés and near the Independence square, Solis theater and a Café to get some relax.

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Ciudad Vieja (Old City) is the name of the old downtown of Montevideo, a very nice place with some attractions like Palacio Salvio, Plaza Independencia, Mercado del Puerto, Teatro Solis and others.
If you travel to Montevideo, you must need to meet this place, eat a good 'Parilla' at Mercado del Puerto and enjoy the "old" envinroment of the place.
Walk around without any commitment, you will like it! :)

It's also a good place for nightlife, with some pub's, soho's and cassino.

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This is the old part of the city of Montevideo. The streets are more narrow, the buildings are older. There is a charm here that hasn´t been overly modified, like that of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It´s a great area to explore on foot.

thinking that my home town of Baltimore, Maryland, USA was the only place that left great old building to crumble, I was surprised, and more than a bit disappointed, to see this happening in Montevideo, as well....but, like I guess I lot of people, I did entertain fantasies about buying a few up, renovating, and turning them into something worthy of their grand structure.