Plaza Artigas is the civic heart of Salto, a shaded square lined with palm trees and benches where the cathedral, municipal buildings and the Larrañaga Theatre all face each other. The statue of General José Gervasio Artigas at the centre is standard for Uruguayan plazas, but the square itself has more life than most — old men playing cards, students on lunch breaks, and the general traffic of city life flowing through.
The Larrañaga Theatre on the southern side of the square is a 19th-century neoclassical building that still hosts concerts, plays and cultural events. It is named after Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga, a Uruguayan priest and naturalist who was one of the founders of the country's intellectual tradition. The theatre's facade is one of the finest examples of provincial Uruguayan architecture from the period.