The Ruins of Villa Epecuen

Back in the 1920s, a tourist village was established along the shore of Lago Epecuen, a salt lake some 600 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The resort town, named Villa Epucuen, soon had a railroad station, and it thrived for several decades, peaking in the 1970s with a population of more than 5,000. Around the same time, a long-term weather event was delivering far more rain than usual to the surrounding hills for years, and Lago Epecuen began to swell. In 1985, the salty waters broke through an earthen dam, and Villa Epecuen was doomed. A slow-growing flood consumed the town until it reached a depth of 10 meters (33 feet) in 1993. The wet weather later reversed, and the waters began to recede in 2009. AFP photographer Juan Mabromata recently visited the ruins of Villa Epecuen, met its sole inhabitant, and returned with these images.

Read more
Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty
    • In Focus
    • Oct 22, 2018
    • 38 Photos

    Photos of the Central American Immigrant Caravan

    Photographs of the U.S.-bound caravan of Central American immigrants over its first 10 days, from Honduras to Mexico, and some of the difficult paths taken by those involved

  • Toru Hanai / Reuters
    • In Focus
    • Oct 19, 2018
    • 35 Photos

    Photos of the Week: Virtual Parish, Drone Tourism, Rock Santa

    A royal visit to Australia, a Napoleonic-battle reenactment in Spain, marijuana legalization in Canada, fall colors in Japan and Europe, and much more

  • Henry Nicholls / Reuters
    • In Focus
    • Oct 18, 2018
    • 27 Photos

    Images of the Season: Fall Is in the Air, Part 2

    One last look at my favorite season of the year, with more autumnal images from across the Northern Hemisphere

  • Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
    • In Focus
    • Oct 17, 2018
    • 35 Photos

    Robots at Work and Play

    Recent images of robotic technology around the world

Most Popular on The Atlantic

  1. How This Will End
  2. Older People Are Worse Than Young People at Telling Fact from Opinion
  3. At 63, I Threw Away My Prized Portrait of Robert E. Lee
  4. The Caravan Is a Challenge to the Integrity of U.S. Borders
  5. College Sports Are Affirmative Action for Rich White Students
  6. The Real Horror in The Haunting of Hill House
  7. Why the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan Peterson
  8. Photos of the Central American Immigrant Caravan
  9. Superfoods Are a Marketing Ploy
  10. Heidi Cruz Didn’t Plan for This
Back to Top