El Cabildo faces Plaza de la Constitucion in the Ciudad Vieja and is one of Montevideo's key colonial buildings. It served as the city council and parliament building under Spanish rule and in the first decades after independence, before later government offices moved through it.
Today it houses the Museo Historico Cabildo, with exhibits on Montevideo's civic history and city archives. It pairs naturally with the cathedral, the plaza, and the nearby museums of the old city.