linking the twin cities.Together with the city of
Carmen de Patagones across the river in
Buenos Aires Province, Viedma is the oldest European settlement in
Patagonia, founded by
Francisco de Viedma y Narváez under the name of
Nuestra Señora del Carmen on 22 April 1779. Originally the two cities were one, called Carmen de Patagones. The original fort was built on the south side of the river in modern Viedma, but it was destroyed within a few months. A new fort was built on the north side, in modern Carmen de Patagones. This fort lasted much longer, and the tower still stands today. The town grew and eventually expanded back across the river into modern-day Viedma. On 11 October 1878, the town was split, with the
Río Negro as their border. With the
Conquest of the Desert, the city became the capital of all Argentine
Patagonia and later, when that was further divided into smaller territories, the capital of the
Río Negro Territory. In 1880, Alvaro Barros, the first governor of Río Negro, changed the name of the city to Viedma. During severe flooding in 1889, the capital of Río Negro was temporary moved to
Choele Choel, but was quickly restored to Viedma. In 1986, during the
presidency of
Raúl Alfonsín, a proposal was made to move the federal capital from
Buenos Aires to a new federal district encompassing both Viedma and Carmen de Patagones. This was to reduce congestion in Buenos Aires, to help develop Patagonia, and to promote the development of the interior. A bill to that effect was passed by
Congress the following year, but owing to economic problems, the project had stagnated by the end of the Alfonsín administration in 1989. == Economy ==