Editing Montevideo (section)

==== Ciudad Vieja (Old City) ====
{{main|Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo}}
[[File:Alcohólicos Anónimos, Montevideo URU.jpg|thumb|Headquarters of Alcohólicos Anónimos in Montevideo]]
Ciudad Vieja was the earliest part of the city to be developed and today it constitutes a prominent ''[[barrio]]'' of southwest Montevideo. It contains many colonial buildings and national heritage sites, but also many banks, administrative offices, museums, art galleries, cultural institutions, restaurants and nightclubs, making it vibrant with life. Its northern coast is the main port of Uruguay, one of the few deep-draft ports in the Southern Cone of South America.

[[File:PlazaConstitución.jpg|thumb|left|Plaza de la Constitución in winter.]]
Montevideo's most important [[plaza]] is [[Plaza Independencia]], located between Ciudad Vieja and [[Centro, Montevideo|downtown]] Montevideo. It starts with the [[Ciudadela, Montevideo|Gateway of The Citadel]] at one end and ends at the beginning of [[18 de Julio Avenue]]. It is the remaining part of the wall that surrounded the oldest part of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visiting Colonia and Montevideo Uruguay: Recipe for a great visit |url=http://www.offbeattravel.com/uruguay-montevideo-colonia-attractions.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204134633/http://www.offbeattravel.com/uruguay-montevideo-colonia-attractions.html |archive-date=4 December 2010 |access-date=18 November 2010 |publisher=Offbeattravel}}</ref> Several notable buildings are located here. 
[[File:TEATRO SOLIS 01.JPG|thumb|Solís Theatre.]]The [[Solís Theatre]] is Uruguay's oldest theater. It was built in 1856 and is owned by the government of Montevideo. In 1998, the government of Montevideo started a major reconstruction of the theater, which included two US$110,000 columns designed by [[Philippe Starck]]. The reconstruction was completed in 2004, and the theater reopened in August of that year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=630831|title="Se reabrió el Teatro Solís", ''La Nación'', 27 August 2004|access-date=28 November 2018|archive-date=31 August 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040831055419/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=630831|url-status=dead}}</ref> The plaza is also the site of the offices of the [[President of Uruguay]] (both the [[Estévez Palace]] and the [[Executive Tower]]). The [[Artigas Mausoleum]] is located at the center of the plaza. Statues include that of [[José Gervasio Artigas]], a hero of Uruguay's independence movement; an honor guard keeps vigil at the Mausoleum.<ref name="Sights">{{Cite web |title=Sights in Montevideo |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/uruguay/montevideo/sights |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=Lonely Planet |archive-date=30 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430184547/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/uruguay/montevideo/sights |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Palacio Salvo]], at the intersection of 18 de Julio Avenue and Plaza Independencia, was designed by the architect [[Mario Palanti]] and completed in 1925. Palanti, an Italian immigrant living in Buenos Aires, used a similar design for his [[Palacio Barolo]] in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Palacio Salvo stands {{convert|100|m|ft|sp=us}} high, including its antenna. It is built on the former site of the Confitería La Giralda, renowned for being where [[Gerardo Matos Rodríguez]] wrote his tango "[[La Cumparsita]]" (1917.)<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110430014946/http://www.jaimegorenstein.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1099&Itemid=1090 Buscando la Verdad – La Cumparcita]}} at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181102220625/http://jaimegorenstein.com/ jaimegorenstein.com]}}</ref> Palacio Salvo was originally intended to function as a hotel but is now a mixture of offices and private residences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mimi Bohm |title=Buenos Aires, Art Nouveau |publisher=Ediciones Xavier Verstraeten |year=2005 |location=Buenos Aires}}</ref>

Also of major note in Ciudad Vieja is the [[Constitution Square (Montevideo)|Plaza de la Constitución]] (or ''Plaza Matriz''). During the first decades of Uruguayan independence this square was the main hub of city life. On the square are the [[Cabildo de Montevideo|Cabildo]]—the seat of colonial government—and the [[Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral]]. The cathedral is the burial place of [[Fructuoso Rivera]], [[Juan Antonio Lavalleja]] and [[Venancio Flores]]. Another notable square is [[Plaza Zabala]] with the equestrian statue of [[Bruno Mauricio de Zabala]]. On its south side, [[Palacio Taranco]], once residence of the Ortiz Taranco brothers, is now the Museum of Decorative Arts. A few blocks northwest of Plaza Zabala is the Mercado del Puerto, another major tourist destination.
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