THE CITY

Singularly pictorial, with its old-fashioned wood and metal houses, with steeply-sloping metal roofing to avoid the gathering of snow, Ushuaia reveals strong links with the past in its urban layout and architecture.

With a past history marked by European navigators, Indian headhunters, gold diggers and a notorious penitentiary, today's city affords visitors different ways of accessing to its history. Ushuaia is not only a little city at the "end of the world", or a nice wind-protected haven for ships, Ushuaia is nature and adventure in every sense.

Its capricious topography has generated a city that blends vivid colors with terracing accompanying the outline of the Andes Mountains, providing a silhouetted backdrop against the sky, and offering travellers a scenario of impressive landscapes, with a deep-sea port and pristine beauty spots within minutes of the city center.

The city has excellent hotel and cuisine infrastructure, with a gourmet selection of typical Fueguian crab, black hake, cod, bream and exquisite shellfish, and last but not least the famous cross-staked Patagonian mutton barbecue.

Its residents and their genesis, mystique and culture are visible everywhere in dance, pictorial art, ceramics, photography, crafts and the theater; activities which all take place in cultural centers or showplaces.

In the Old Downtown Area, in accordance with the original layout of the city's streets, many examples of original churches, buildings, monuments and parks are found:

MONUMENTS

"El Crucero Gallego" (The Galician Cruiser)
This is a sculpture made in natural granite brought from Galicia (Spain). It is around 6 ½ m high and weighs over two tons. Its creators belong to the "Escuela de Canteiros de Pontevedra". It was given to the city of Ushuaia by the members of the Galician Center.

Monument to the Anglican Missionaries
In 1869 the British subject Waite Stirling was the first white European who managed to live among the aboriginal natives of Tierra del Fuego and establish a religious mission with them.
The monument marks the place where he built his first house with his own hands. This was known as "Casa Stirling" or "Casa de Hierro" (Stirling House or the Iron House). The mission continued until 1907, when the British bishop Stirling moved to live with the Bridges and Lawrence families that arrived in 1871 and 1873, respectively. They were the first non--native residents of the Fueguian archipelago.

Malvinas Islands Monument
Facing the position of the Malvinas, this monument was unveiled on April 2nd 1994 to honor "Veterans' Day" and the soldiers fallen in the Malvinas War (1982), when Argentine and British forces fought in the South Atlantic. It was declared a National Historical Monument and can be seen at the corner of Maipú and Patagonia streets.