Found­ed by the Por­tuguese in 1680 on the Rio de la Pla­ta, the city was of strate­gic impor­tance in resist­ing the Span­ish. After being dis­put­ed for a cen­tu­ry, it was final­ly lost by its founders. The well-pre­served urban land­scape illus­trates the suc­cess­ful fusion of the Por­tuguese, Span­ish and post-colo­­nial styles.