Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria

Located on the corner of Virazon and El Faro stands a beautiful blue and white Victorian church. Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, or “Our lady of the Candle,” is charming and comfortable, with spring shades of yellow and baby blue inside. The sacred building is named after its patron saint, which is also the patron of Punta del Este.

In the early 1500s, a Spaniard named Juan Diaz de Solis came to Uruguay and declared it property of the Spanish crown. Solis named the bay of Maldonado and Punta del Este, Santa Maria de la Candelaria. This refers to an ancient myth where the Virgin Mary appears before two shepherds on Tenerife in 1392. Today, the church is considered very important to the locals of Punta del Este.