The eerie ghost town is everything about the former thriving lakeside resort that became modern Atlantis after being submerged underwater for 30 years. Argentina's Villa Epecuen sits quietly despite being just four miles from the city of Carouhe in the province of Buenos Aires.
The settlements of the century, developed in the early 1920s, were associated with the Argentina capital by train. The town and its delightful salt lakes were sold as having healing properties, but were popular tourist retreats for vacationers in Buenos Aires. It provided a peaceful lifestyle to its residents for over 60 years, but it changed in 1985. On November 6th of that year, a Seiche or standing wave caused by rare weather patterns smashed a nearby dam. The embankments that protected the village were then overcome, and in 1993 the water rose to a peak of 10m or 33 feet. After the place was submerged, it became unmanned and not rebuilt.
Many of the ruins are covered with layers of white and grey salt from the area. At the time of the flood, Epecuén had up to 280 businesses, including lodges, guesthouses, hotels and other commercial businesses that visited 25,000 tourists between the 1950s and 1970s and March.
The rainy weather later turned around, and in 2009 the water began to recede, with the eerie scenery rarely seen. Born in 1930, Pablo Novak was a former resident of the town who returned after the water retreated in the nostalgic movement that returned to his home. A 2013 documentary called “The Villa of Pablo” documented an elderly man living there, leaving behind an abandoned ins until his death on January 22, 2024.
Pablo's death is when the town is abandoned once more, its only visitors are curious and photographers are looking for unusual scenery. The Buenos Aires football club reportedly grew up in honor of the last native speaker in the village named “Villa Pablo FC.”
Photos of the town in its heyday paint pictures of small settlements featuring lovely wide roads, plenty of classic cars and people who are spending the day.
The reminder is in stark contrast to the current landscape, featuring rusty bed frames, dead trees, flat houses and creepy, lonely structures that tower over the area like empty monsters.
