Mercedes

Mercedes sits on a bend of the Río Negro with its back to the water and a long tree-lined rambla along it, and the river is what the town is for: rowing, fishing and camping at the Hum campsite on the Isla del Puerto, joined to the town by a footbridge. The Museo Paleontológico Alejandro Berro holds an important fossil collection from the surrounding country, where the Río Negro banks cut into rich Pleistocene deposits. It is the capital of Soriano, one of the oldest departments, and the streets behind the rambla keep a low nineteenth-century grid of shuttered houses.

Highlights

• The rambla - a long tree-lined promenade along the Rio Negro.
• The palaeontological museum - fossils from the rich deposits along the river.
• Isla del Puerto - the island opposite, used for camping and swimming.
• The cathedral - Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, by the Swiss architect Antonio Petrochi.

When to go

October to April is most comfortable; summer is hot inland. Winter on the river is damp.

Practical notes

The town is workaday and the interest is the river and the museum. Museum hours are limited. Summer heat here is considerable.

Nearby

Villa Soriano is southwest, and Fray Bentos is west.

Key facts