Carmen de Patagones

Carmen de Patagones was founded in 1779 by settlers from Spain, making it the oldest surviving town in Patagonia, and it kept a distinctive shape: houses built into and on top of a bluff above the Río Negro, with stone stairways, cave dwellings cut into the soft rock by the first colonists, and narrow lanes running down to the water. The Torre del Fuerte, the tower of the original fort, still stands, and a historical museum holds relics of the settlement and of the 1827 battle in which the town repelled a Brazilian landing, an event still commemorated locally. Small boats ferry passengers across to Viedma on the southern bank, in Río Negro province, in a two-minute crossing between provinces.

History

Francisco de Viedma founded the town in 1779, leading a Spanish expedition sent to colonise the Patagonian coast, and after the May Revolution of 1810 its fort served as a prison for royalists. In the Cisplatine War of 1825-1828, with the Río de la Plata blockaded by Brazil, it became a naval base, and on 7 March 1827 armed residents drove off a Brazilian attack, still celebrated with a festival; two imperial Brazilian flags taken in the battle hang in the main church, on the site of the old fort. In 1986 President Raúl Alfonsín proposed moving the national capital to a new federal district around Carmen de Patagones and Viedma, approved by Congress in 1987, but President Carlos Menem dissolved the project's commission in 1989 (Wikipedia, Carmen de Patagones).

The main sights

• The bluff-top old town - stone stairways, lanes and cave dwellings above the river.
• The Torre del Fuerte - the surviving tower of the eighteenth-century fort.
• The historical museum - the town's founding and the 1827 defence.
• The river ferry - the short crossing to Viedma on the far bank.

When to go

October to April for warm weather and river activity; the region is windy year-round and cold in winter. The town's historical commemoration in March fills the streets. Museums keep short and variable hours.

Before you go

The town is small and its sights amount to a half day, mostly walking. Museums have limited opening and Spanish-only interpretation. The Río Negro here is broad and muddy rather than scenic.

Nearby

Viedma is across the river; the Atlantic coast and Patagonia proper lie south.

Key facts