Almacén del Hacha

Bar y Almacén del Hacha opened as a colonial pulperia around 1730 at the corner of Buenos Aires and Maciel streets in Ciudad Vieja, which makes it Montevideo's oldest bar by most accounts, including the Spanish language Wikipedia entry on Bar El Hacha.

The name comes from a documented 1784 crime: a sailor killed the shopkeeper with an axe, and the recovered weapon ended up displayed on the bar's grating as a mark of justice. The Uruguayan postal service put the bar on a commemorative stamp in 2004.

Today the room runs live music, poetry, and art nights, per its own program and ViewMontevideo's survey of the city's notable bars. It is the working answer to La Ronda's closure: Ciudad Vieja's history, still open and still loud some nights.

Sixty centimeter thick colonial walls and the original pulperia grating survive, per AroundUs's architectural notes. The room is small, dark, and heavy with history; the axe story is told on the walls, and the corner doors open straight onto Ciudad Vieja.

Drink simply: grappa miel, medio y medio, and cold national beer fit the room. The kitchen runs picadas for the table. Nobody comes here for mixology; you come to drink inside three hundred years and stay for whoever takes the corner stage.

Tango singers, boxers, and poets historically, per Alejandro Michelena's chronicle in Letras Uruguay; today a mix of Ciudad Vieja locals and travelers chasing the oldest room in town. Music and poetry nights fill the small floor fast.

What regulars say:

• Wikipedia's entry dates the building to the 1730s and documents the 1784 axe murder behind the name.
• ViewMontevideo lists it first among the city's notable historic bars.
• The bar's own Facebook program promises music, poetry, letters, and live art in the oldest bar of Montevideo.

Who it is for:

• History first drinkers
• A live music night inside three centuries of walls
• Avoid if you want craft cocktails; the list is proudly simple

The single most essential bar stop in Montevideo. Order a medio y medio, read the walls, and stay if there is a guitar out.

Getting there: Corner of Buenos Aires and Maciel streets, Ciudad Vieja, a short walk from Mercado del Puerto.

Timing: Evenings for music and poetry nights; the program moves, so check the bar's Facebook page before a special trip.

Cost: Cheap by any capital's standard. Cash is the safe option.