Plaza Zabala

Here we are! Welcome to the beautiful Plaza Zabala, one of the most unique and charming corners of the entire Old City. If you look around, you will quickly realize that this square is not like the others: it completely breaks with the classic grid of colonial streets. A walk through its history. To understand why we are standing in this special place, we have to travel back in time. On this same block, the Fuerte Grande was originally built, the military fortress that protected walled Montevideo in colonial times. At the end of the 19th century, during the mandate of Lorenzo Latorre, it was decided to demolish the old government building to transform the space. Although the land remained vacant for a few years, finally on December 31, 1890, the plaza was formally inaugurated. It was named in honor of Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, the Spanish military founder of our city, whose majestic equestrian statue—work of the sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut Valera and inaugurated in 1931—dominates the center of the park. The present: an oasis in the historic neighborhood. Today, the square functions as a tree-lined and idyllic respite in the financial and cultural heart of the neighborhood. It is classified as a National Historical Monument and is a perfect meeting point for neighbors and visitors looking for shade, silence or reading a good book. Around us…

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