I’d heard about Villa Epecuen a while ago, firstly through a photo essay, and then my friend Stephen Phelan visited and it jumped to the top of my must-visit places in Argentina.

Ruins, Villa Epecuen

Last week 4 of us took off on a mini road-trip and as luck would have it our route took us past the town to Carhué, some 10 kilometres south of the the ruined village, so we took a small detour and headed off to see what was left of Villa Epecuen.

Wheelbarrow, Villa Epecuen

Villa Epecuen was founded on the banks of Lago Epecuen in the early 20th Century and soon became a popular tourist resort with crowds flocking from Buenos Aires to sample the curative qualities of the mineral-rich water of the lake. They say that by the 1950s, the village’s population of 1,500 would swell to more than 6,500 in the high season.

Window frames, Epecuen

But the lake, the very thing that drew the visitors would prove to be Villa Epecuen’s undoing. In November 1985, 8 days of heavy rain burst a nearby dam and the waters began to rise, slowly enough for the residents to evacuate, but too fast to prevent the flooding and before long Villa Epecuen was under 10 metres of water.

Steps, Villa Epecuen

And there it remained until a few years ago when the water began receding, revealing a ruined and very different place. Much of the water evaporated leaving a thick layer of salt coating much of the remains, giving the place a very sparse and blasted look.

Salty tree, Epecuen

The main streets have been cleared, and every year more of the village is uncovered, but only one resident remains, or more accurately, returned. 83 year old Pablo Novak returned to his home once the waters had lowered sufficiently – claiming that he was born there and is happy to die there.

Avenida de Mayo, Villa Epecuen