The rooms
French furniture.
Ypsilon from Finland — CC0 · MaxiCiccone — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Felipe Restrepo Acosta — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Martin Peralta — CC BY-SA 3.0
An elegant French-style palace in the old town, built between 1908 and 1910 for the wealthy Taranco family and designed by French architects Girault and Chifflot, of Paris's Petit Palais, on the site of the city's first theatre. The palace became the Museum of Decorative Arts, showing the family's rooms with lavish European furniture, carpets, clocks, mirrors, ceramics, bronzes and paintings, revealing the life of Montevideo's elite in the early twentieth century. The lower floor holds a collection of antiquities. In front is a lovely small garden of flowerbeds and stone urns, facing the tree-filled Plaza Zabala, one of the old town's quietest squares. Concerts are sometimes held in the palace. Entry is usually free, as at most Uruguayan public museums, and hours change. Montevideo is fairly calm, but watch your belongings in the old town at night and in crowded spots.
French furniture.
Flowers and urns.
Quiet and leafy.
Plaza Zabala, Ciudad Vieja
Ciudad Vieja (Old Town)Montevideo's oldest district, on a small peninsula between the bay and the wide 3 minutes walk
Mercado del PuertoA historic building opposite Montevideo's port, opened in 1868 as a city market,4 minutes walk
Teatro SolísUruguay's leading theatre and one of South America's oldest, opened in 1856, wit8 minutes walk4.7
Puerta de la CiudadelaA massive stone gateway, the last surviving piece of the Spanish citadel that gu9 minutes walk4.5
Plaza IndependenciaMontevideo's most important square, dividing the old town from the modern centre10 minutes walkThe Taranco family's rooms with European furniture and objets as a decorative arts museum, plus antiquities downstairs.