Isla Martín García: a one of a kind getaway.........by Roberto Dario Frassinetti,Buenos AIres,Argentina




Some 30 minutes away from downtown Buenos Aires is Tigre, a riverside location home to great attractions such as beautiful fruit markets, handcrafts and all sorts of wooden furniture open air shops.The stepping stone to theI sland.....

Arriving to the Martin García island,just around 2 square miles of land, can be done either by boat or by taxi plane. Unlike the other islands in the Argentinean delta –earthy sediments formations- the Martín García island is a volcanic formation and an emergence of the mass in Sierra de la Ventana. This has set the basis for an amazing combination of nature, birds, flowers, trees that make of this place a great option for all sorts of alternative tours, ecotourism, cultural and historical walks and of course a great option for those who want to take some time off the city’s noise and clutterness.

The historical background of this island is just amazing, all sorts of personalities –such as one of Argentina’s most famous presidents Juan Domingo Perón, the famous Nicaraguan poet Ruben Darío, as well as the worldly known Dr. Maza who discovered the vaccine to chagas chose this beautiful place as their home.Some as prisoners, as the island was used on several occasions to confine political prisoners.

Today its a tourist attraction ...... from visting the Fort built in 1868,the old Penal dating back from 1765..... and a graveyard with inclined crosses,that folk history says where to mark where the victims of the yellow fever had been buried.All this and much more atracts the local and international tourist.

The old colonial constructions in the center of the of this beautiful town blend together with other no less beautiful buildings that express the American and French aesthetical influence in those sensitive and delightful designs in a very art nouveau style.

From the center of the island one can appreciateone of the famous lighthouses built in the early years of 1880's. It has lighten this island’s coasts for more than one hundred years. The building shows clean and strong lines, inside, a snail ladder leads us to the highest point of the island from were we can enjoy an amazing view.

It was still working till 1927,today its only a toursiat attraction.

I hope you have enjoyed reading and will take this island's lighthouse into consideration for visiting if you are ever this way.Bob Frassinetti.

Thanks so much Bob for your article. The following shows photos of the island and the lighthouse plus lots of information but your English version is much easier for most of us to understand!

http://www.geocities.com/lu7cc/faro_Martin_Garcia.html

Art and function: lighthouses that guide us to supreme aesthetics.



Lighthouses, throughout history have always been of great relevance. Its deep purpose, that is to indicate land to those in the sea was very much accomplished always with incredible aesthetic relevance. These incredible constructions have accompanied man though his self-discovery journey; as far in our history as the Egyptian and Greek civilisations had built lighthouses to help those intrepid travellers come home, to our present, in spite of the outstanding technology that has been developed for ocean ships.

The familiarity in their surface, as travellers were approaching homeland, its been told that feels like a mother’s hug, transmitting that warmth and safe feeling.

As every other construction, lighthouses express the sense of an era, of the time they were built in. Its lines, curves, they way the light dances in the water showing the shore, can tell us very much of what those times were like. We might as well trace their achitectual background in other contemporary constructions, and often find out the revolutionary of those buildings. Why? Because of their importance to many people’s survival, these buildings often show the most outstanding techniques of an era, applied on behalf of that civilisation’s wellbeing. As the Egyptian pyramids express the best possible construction for a desert area, the Alexandria Lighthouse or the Rods lighthouse showed the best possible construction for a sea shore area.

Everywhere there’s a shore, lighthouses enlight us with their lines, curves and outstanding surface. They blend, as we said before, art and functionality.

In Argentina, there are two outstanding lighthouses –among more than 58 important ones throughout the national territory- that show precisely what we’ve been saying so far.

Located in the port area of Argentina’s capital city Buenos Aires, the Buenos Aires Yacht Club lighthouse was built during the late 20s of the twentieth century. Its aesthetics had been marked by a world-wide architectural trend: Art Decó. One can see in its delicate straight lines how the architects in charge of building this lighthouse blend functionality and art, including many decorative inputs to the basic construction, mixing up different materials to get the most out of each one of them. The BA Yact Club is located in the Puerto Madero area that during the early years of the twentieth century was the city’s most important port, today it’s busy port days are over, it has become one of BA’s most exquisite places. Old port houses have been renewed into gourmet restaurants of outstanding quality, out of the top hotels, a very exclusive residential area, and of course our city’s Yacht Club, a majesties gathering point for outdoor activities for all the family.

When visiting the city of tango, all our coast area is a must, for its elegance, high quality eating and relaxing options. This areas’ physiognomy very much expresses Buenos Aires history, the evolution of a portside city who has taken advantage of its position and influences to become the cultural, fashion and social Metropolis of Latin America.



Far south from the city of tango, Argentina runs all the way down to the most southern point of the world. The last continental stop before the long journey towards the Antarctic ices is Tierra del Fuego. In 1884, some few years after the southern boarder of Argentina was finally set, a group of magnificent artists built the San Juan del Salvamiento lighthouse in the Isla de los Estados. Imagine the magnitude of this building regarding its surrounding land that Jules Verne was so inspired about it that he wrote on of his most famous novels, The Lighthouse of the End of the World in 1905. Because of its location, the harsh weather and tide conditions this lighthouse was destroyed because of the pass of time and the lack of a strong conservation policy by the Argentinean governments. Its remains were taken to Ushuaia for exhibition a few years ago. In the 1920s in the northern part of the island there were build some other lighthouses that still remain to our days, Año Nuevo in Isla Observatorio, Le Maire, San Gonzalo, San Pío and Les Eclaireurs.

For their historical value as well as for they represent a state of mind, this southern Argentinean cities are highly recommended for those art loving and adventurous travellers who enjoy life’s pleasures in all of their variety. Adventure, fun and good living are an expression of life in the end of the world. People from all over the world have chosen this beautiful city as their home, as they pick up local customs they share their own traditions: the result is an awesome combination of cultures and people who work together for a better living.

This worldly recognised city has become a Mecca for those who love great eating, adventure and good living. Spas, gourmet restaurants, high class accommodation and a view not even Michel Angelo would have imagine make of this city one of our favourite places in the world.

Hello Mombo,

Yes,the photos on that web site are great,and well I just placed another artcle up so maybe you will be able to illustrate it as well,and I'm working on more information so others will find it of interest! Chat soon and best wishes from Buenos Aires,Argentina,Bob Frassinetti.

PS;Ever been down here?

Thanks for sharing the information on Argentina Bob. I have traveled to quite a few places but never to the Southern Hemisphere. Maybe one day I'll get down that direction.

Wow! I think you would win the "long-distance visitor" award, Bob! Thanks for your interesting post. How did you happen to stumble upon this site?

Bob

No Bob, I've never been to S. America either. Your presence here is most welcome. Some of us, including myself, are very interested in lighthouses from countries other than our own. Please do tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in lighthouses.

Thank you all for such a nice warm welcome! And I'm also having a good time writting articles for you all to read...... as you are all interested I've written this one on a next door country,Urugauy.... but I'll be posting many more articles on lighthoses in my native country,so enjoy! If anyone wants more detailed information plaease contact me personally,thank you for reading,Bob Frassinetti.

Lighthouses in Rocha- Uruguay, one of the worlds' last unspoiled paradises.

Uruguay is a beautiful and small country with a gorgeous coastline that has
one amazing particularity it has two different types of coasts, to the west
there's the foamy Atlantic ocean and to the east the Rio de la Plata, at its
widest when it blends up with the ocean. The visitor, hence, its delighted
with beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic and splendid sunsets over the Rio
de la Plata. This is obviously a gift from nature, that all those who travel
to the Uruguayan coast treasure. So much appreciated are these sunsets that
in La Paloma -one beautiful beach resort in the Rocha district- that every
afternoon through the whole summer -December to March- hundreds of tourists
gather together at the La Balconada (a the balcony like beach) to enjoy the
moment. Tradition is that at the peak of the moment everybody applauds; a
symbolic gesture of gratitude for the breathtaking scene.
The most far into the sea land point hosts one of Uruguay's most beautiful
lighthouses. Located in the very end of the bay were the east and west side
of this pretty village converge, the Cabo Santa María Lighthouse stands out
to indicate those in the sea the route to an outstanding getaway resort. As
every other attraction in this lovely place, there are many stories
regarding this famous lighthouse. It was firstly built in 1874 by a group of
hard working man who used the same sand that was used for other similar
constructions. The story tells that one night, when all the workers were
asleep on the beach very nearby he lighthouse, something happened, and the
whole building collapsed. Only one of them survived. Latter on he told the
story and said "I saved myself because I dreamt that the building was
falling down, so I moved away". No one knows whether this actually really
happened or not. Some years latter this new lighthouse was built and thanks
god, there were no more casualties. People say that on quiet nights, when
the tide is down and the ocean is calm, one can hear those workmen talking
and working with their shovels.
Whether this story is true or not is part of the folk that surrounds this
lighthouse. The new building -not so new, for it was built during the last
years of the nineteenth century- has very strong foundations and is open to
the public on weekends. Every Saturday and Sunday many visitors walk up the
beautiful winding stair up to the top of the lighthouse to enjoy a
nonparallel view.
This 98 feet brick tower's lantern rises from the first floor keepers
quarters to enlight the coast area. The architecture of the building, as
well as its design is very representative from the late 19th century, very
clean lines combined with usefulness. The tower is painted in white, and the
lantern and watch room are painted with red and white vertical stripes. This
lighthouse is still active: focal plane 137 ft; white flash every 60 s.
For its history and importance, this building was declared a national
historical monument in 1976.

La Paloma is one of Rocha's most beautiful beach resorts, for its ravishing
beaches, great and friendly people and of course -as we've seen above- its
bewitching stories.

Sorry,I have changed the tittle of the messages from,"Isla Martín García: a one of a kind getaway
by Bob Frassinetti" to "Lighthouses found in Argentina and Uruguay",I believe a better title in general as I'll be writting more articles for you all to enjoy,if thats ok with you?

Bob Frassinetti.

Keep them coming, Bob!

Bob

PS;I just did some editing to the article on the lighthouse of the Island Martin Garcia as there where some erros,this time I got it right! Bob