The Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento, the Iglesia Matriz, was born with the town. Colonia was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 as Nova Colônia do Santíssimo Sacramento, and on 2 February of that year a first church of straw and mud was raised there; in 1699 it was rebuilt in stone and lime. For this reason it is often considered the oldest church in Uruguay — but the claim should be taken with care: no official source states it without reservation, and the fabric visible today is in fact nineteenth-century, raised between 1808 and 1810 to a design by the architect Tomás Toribio, reusing part of the pre-existing structure. Its history carries the scar of an unusual disaster: in 1823, during the Cisplatine occupation, lightning struck the gunpowder store the Portuguese had made beneath the sacristy, and the explosion levelled the sacristy and destroyed the high altar. Charles Darwin, passing through with the Beagle, noted the church as «a curious ruin», recalling that the explosion had gutted two thirds of it. It was then rebuilt between 1836 and 1841. Today it is a parish seat and a minor basilica, colonial in style — a single nave covered by a barrel vault, two white twin bell towers, one with the clock and one with the bell — in the heart of the Barrio Histórico, beside the Plaza de Armas. It is not inscribed by UNESCO in its own right: it is one of the monuments of the Historic Quarter of Colonia del Sacramento, inscribed in 1995 under criterion (iv) for its successful fusion of Portuguese, Spanish and post-colonial styles.
About the Basilica
The Basilica of the Holy Sacrament, the Iglesia Matriz of Colonia del Sacramento, was founded with the Portuguese city in 1680 — a first church of straw and mud, rebuilt in stone in 1699. Often called the oldest church in Uruguay, though the present building dates from 1808–1810 (architect Tomás Toribio), it was wrecked in 1823 when lightning struck a powder store beneath the sacristy, and rebuilt in 1836–1841. A colonial church of a single barrel-vaulted nave and twin white bell towers, it stands beside the Plaza de Armas in the cobbled Barrio Histórico, within the Historic Quarter of Colonia del Sacramento, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.
Key facts
- 1680: the Portuguese found Colonia and raise a first church of straw and mud
- 1699: rebuilt in stone and lime by order of Governor Sebastián de Veiga Cabral
- 1808–1810: the present building erected to the plans of architect Tomás Toribio
- 1823: lightning ignites a powder magazine under the sacristy; the explosion destroys the sacristy and high altar
- 1836–1841: the church rebuilt after the disaster
- 1995: the Historic Quarter of Colonia del Sacramento inscribed by UNESCO, criterion (iv)
History
Colonia del Sacramento was a Portuguese outpost on the Río de la Plata, founded in 1680 and fought over with Spain for a century, and its Iglesia Matriz shares that turbulent life. A first church of straw and mud went up in 1680; it was rebuilt in stone in 1699, and again and again as sieges and time took their toll. The building standing today was raised between 1808 and 1810 to the design of Tomás Toribio, the leading late-colonial architect of the Río de la Plata, reusing much of the older fabric. It is often called the oldest church in Uruguay — a claim best kept in its place, since the fabric is 19th-century.
Its strangest chapter came in 1823. During the Cisplatine occupation, the Portuguese had turned the space beneath the sacristy into a powder magazine; a lightning strike set it off, and the explosion levelled the sacristy and the high altar. Passing through on the voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin noted the church as “a curious ruin”, its greater part blown to the foundations by “the united powers of electricity and gunpowder”. It was rebuilt between 1836 and 1841, and today serves again as parish church and minor basilica.
What you see
A sober colonial church, whitewashed, with two symmetrical bell towers rising over the Barrio Histórico — one carrying the clock, the other the bell, each topped by a balustraded belfry. Inside, a single nave runs under a barrel vault on round arches, its walls the Portuguese stone-and-brick masonry of the old town. The church sits just off the Plaza de Armas (Plaza Manuel Lobo), a few steps from the Plaza Mayor and the 1857 lighthouse, in the tangle of cobbled streets that runs down to the Río de la Plata.
Practical information
- Opening hours: open for worship, with regular Mass especially at weekends — check current times before visiting
- Location: Calle Vasconcellos, beside the Plaza de Armas, Barrio Histórico, Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
- Status: active Catholic parish church and minor basilica (Diocese of Mercedes)
Getting there
The basilica is in the middle of the walled Barrio Histórico, a short walk from every corner of the old town; Colonia is an hour by ferry across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires. GPS: 34.4711°S, 57.8507°W.
Nearby
- Historic Quarter of Colonia del Sacramento — the UNESCO-listed Portuguese colonial old town of cobbled streets and city walls
- Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo and the Faro — the main square and the 1857 lighthouse, by the ruins of the San Francisco convent
- Calle de los Suspiros — the famous cobbled “Street of Sighs” nearby
Sources
- Conferencia Episcopal del Uruguay — official record: the church of the Holy Sacrament, parish seat and minor basilica, built 1808–1810
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — “Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento” (ref. 747)
- Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle — eyewitness note on the ruined church
- Colonia tourism records (coloniauy.com, infoturismo19) — cross-checked
- Wikipedia (English and Spanish) — “Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento”, used as a map and cross-checked
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