Plaza de la Constitución, also known as Plaza Matriz, is the oldest square in Montevideo and the historical heart of the Ciudad Vieja. It was the central point of colonial life, flanked by the Cabildo (the colonial town hall) on one side and the Metropolitan Cathedral on the other — the same pairing of civic and religious authority found in colonial plazas across Latin America.
The Cabildo now houses a museum of the colonial period; the cathedral, completed in 1804, is the seat of the Archbishop of Montevideo. The square itself is pleasant and relatively unpolished compared to the grander Plaza Independencia — more lived-in, with locals sitting on benches and pigeons on the pavement. The view of the two facing neoclassical facades across the square is one of the characteristic images of old Montevideo.