Casa de Rivera, Montevideo, National Historical Museum in Ciudad Vieja, Uruguay

Casa de Rivera is a two-storey colonial house at Rincón 437, on the corner of Misiones, in Montevideo's Ciudad Vieja. Built from around 1800, it is organised around two courtyards aligned with the main entrance, which originally opened on Calle San Felipe, today Misiones. Its façade, designed by engineer Juan Antonio Capurro between 1867 and 1871, includes an octagonal mirador.

Construction began around 1800 for the merchant and councilman Cristóbal Salvañach; after his death the house passed to his wife Celedonia, murdered by two enslaved servants, Mariquita and Encarnación, who were hanged for the crime. From 1834 to 1849 it belonged to General Fructuoso Rivera and his wife Bernardina Fragoso. The Banco de Seguros del Estado used it for offices from 1912 to 1940, and in July 1940 it became the seat of the Museo Histórico Nacional under director Juan Pivel Devoto.

The exhibition traces the political history of the Banda Oriental, the Provincia Oriental and the Estado Oriental up to the Revolution of 1904, through objects that belonged to historical figures and a painting gallery devoted to national themes. The house is also known as Casa de Salvañach, after the merchant and councilman Cristóbal Salvañach, who began building it around 1800.

The location is straightforward to find and the rooms are easy to navigate, with adequate space to move between the displays. Visitors should allow an hour or two to view all the exhibits without rushing.

The 1940 conversion was pushed through by Juan Pivel Devoto, who took over as director of the National Historical Museum in May of that year. The restoration work was led by the engineer-architect Alfredo Rampos, assisted by Italo Dighiero and Beltran Arbeleche. The octagonal mirador on the roof appears in an engraving by the Italian traveller Paolo Mantegazza.