5 Best Sights in Montevideo, Uruguay

Connecting Cuidad Vieja and the Centro, Independence Square is the heart of Montevideo. All that remains of the original walls of the Spanish fort is the Puerta de la Ciudadela, the triumphal gate to the Old City. In the center stands a 30-ton statue of General José Gervasio Artigas, the father of Uruguay and founder of its 19th-century independence movement. At the base of the monument, polished granite stairs lead to an underground mausoleum that holds Artigas's remains, open Tuesday through Sunday, 10–6. The mausoleum is a moving memorial: bold graphics chiseled in the walls of this giant space detail the feats of Artigas's life. There's a changing of the guard every Friday at noon.

The original City Hall is where the Uruguayan constitution was signed in 1830. This two-story colonial edifice houses an impressive collection of paintings, antiques, costumes, and rotating history exhibits. Fountains and statuary line the interior patios. English-speaking guides are available.

It's officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and St. Phillip and St. James, but it is known to Montevideans as the Matriz ("head") Church, as well as the Catedral Metropolitana de Montevideo. The cathedral is the oldest public building in Montevideo, with a distinctive pair of dome-cap bell towers that stand guard over the plaza below. Besides its rich marble interior, colorful floor tiling, stained glass, and dome, the Matriz Church is notable as the final resting place of many of Uruguay's most important political and military figures.

This park has a little something for everyone, with two amusement parks, a number of decent eateries, and the National Museum of Visual Arts. The park also has an outdoor theater and hosts an open-air feria (fair) on Sunday.

Too tiny to require flying buttresses, the ornately Gothic Holy Family Church, also known as Capilla Jackson, is complete in all other respects. A troop of gargoyles peers down at you from this Jesuit house of worship, and the finely wrought stained-glass windows become radiant when backlit by the sun.