Uruguay’s Famous Heritage Sites: Get To Know the South American Country With Its Historical Landmarks
Uruguay is known for its beach-lined geographical location and is famed for being South America’s second-smallest country. But the size of its nation has never deterred its nation to become a world-renowned destination for tourists seeking their next vacation. ELISA COLELLA/AFP via Getty Images

Uruguay can deliver every vacationer's trip goals, with it being home to numerous heritage sites. The country is known for its beach-lined location and is famed for being South America's second-smallest country.

But the size of Uruguay has never deterred it to become a world-renowned destination for tourists seeking their next vacation.

Tourists can enjoy several things in Uruguay, such as wine tasting, with the country's wine industry booming. Many of the country's wineries are small and family-owned, but they produce high-quality red and white wines.

Uruguay's Heritage Sites

A world heritage site is a natural or cultural site that shows the influence or significance of the country in a global context. Usually, there are three types of heritage sites such as cultural, natural, and mixed, according to Britannica.

Cultural heritage sites are common tourist spots with historical structures and town sites. It can include significant archeological sites and works of huge artists, such as sculptures or paintings. In Uruguay, one of its most popular heritage sites is the bay and the island of the Colonia del Sacramento.

Colonia del Sacramento has been featured on the UNESCO Tentative World Heritage list. Its bay is described as a "reservoir of historic testimonies of rural life," as Culture Trip reported. It is also the second oldest city in Uruguay and once played a host to a dispute between Spanis and Portuguese colonials.

Rock Paintings Area in Chamanga

Chamanga has a concentrated pictographic site and is considered to be the greatest in Uruguay. Located in the Province of Flores, it has more than 40 rock paintings registered up until now.

UNESCO noted that pictographs are characterized by abstract representations with varied geometrical motives. The pictographs are estimated to be around 2,000 years old.

Ciudad Vieja in Montevideo

Founded between 1724 and 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, it is a port city that faces Rio de la Plata with peaceful communities.

The center of the area's cultural life is in the so-called "Old City," which is where the past and present overlap among historical buildings, as detailed by Welcome Uruguay.

In the area, tourists can see Zabala Square, the Port Market, and Sarandi Pedestrian Street, where most art galleries are located.

Montevideo also features a collection of various architectural styles, showing both the era in which it was built and the nationality of those who designed the structures.

Fray Bentos

The heritage site is an industrial landscape established after a factory's construction in 1859. The said factory was used to process meat at the time.

UNESCO stated that the area's property has all elements related to the history of the site and the period of its operation. The landscape also shows original workhouses and early commercial buildings.

Fray Bentos has great places to visit, such as its Balnerio Las Canas, Museum of the Industrial Revolution, and Plaza Constitution, among many others.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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