Mar de Ajó is a coastal city in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and is located in the southern end of the seaside La Costa Partido (the Coast District). The region is known as the Tuju Corner (Rincón del Tuyú).

Etymology

It owes its name to a word used by the Guarani aborigines who inhabited the area, whose meaning is ''Soft Mud''. During the arrival in 1580 of the Paraguayan

Hernando Arias de Saavedra Hernando Arias de Saavedra (September 10, 1561 – 1634), commonly known as Hernandarias, was a soldier and politician of criollo ancestry. He was the first person born in the Americas to become a governor of a European colony in the New World, ...

to the shores of the mouth of the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

with the Atlantic Ocean, his expedition made use of the collaboration of a group of evangelized Guarani indigenous people, who identified this area with the word ''Tuju'', a term in Guarani that indicated the presence of white mud on the coasts and bottom of the river, for this reason, this place ended up being known as the Rincón del Tuyú. There's the

Ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

Ajó, which was identified by the Guarani with the term ''Ajo'', which alluded to the soft white mud of its bed, which made the terrain unstable when it came to traversing it on foot. For this reason, the estuary began to be known as Ría Ajó by the Spanish.

History and overview

Named for the original ''Partido de Ajó'' district established by Governor

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...

in 1839, the fishing village became of interest to tourism during the 1920s, when district Mayor Jorge Gibson graded the area's beaches. The town was officially established on December 21, 1935, and in 1936, its

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

was completed; measuring 270 m (886 ft), the Mar de Ajó Pier is the largest of the five in the La Costa District. Mar de Ajó grew to become the most populous of the thirteen La Costa District municipalities, and rivals

San Clemente del Tuyú San Clemente del Tuyú is an Argentine town in the '' Partido de la Costa'' district of the Province of Buenos Aires. History Noticed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who gave nearby Cape San Antonio its name, Spanish authorities first surveyed ...

, the northernmost La Costa town, in tourist activity. Renewed growth in the 1990s led to the establishment of the Universidad Atlántida Argentina in 1994, and a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

in 1996. Other notable installations include the Rubén Luis Di Palma Regional Racetrack (among the venues of the

TC2000 The TC2000 (''Turismo Competición 2000'', formerly ''Súper TC2000'') is a touring car racing series held in Argentina since 1979. Rules Prior to 2012, engines of up to were allowed, with only limited modifications from standard engines. ...

rally), the Historical Museum and Archives (featuring

glyptodon ''Glyptodon'' (from Greek for 'grooved or carved tooth': γλυπτός 'sculptured' and ὀδοντ-, ὀδούς 'tooth') is a genus of glyptodont (an extinct group of large, herbivorous armadillos) that lived from the Pleistocene, around 2.5 ...

s and other

cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

era fossils), the Parish of Santa Margarita María de Alacoque, and the ship graveyard at Nueva Atlantissite of the shipwreck of numerous 19th-century merchant vessels, notably the ''Margaretha'', an Imperial German ship that ran aground in 1880, and whose remains appear during low tide. The town has a permanent population of 25,520 inhabitants and an area of approximately 35 square kilometers.Mar de Ajo, Información General
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Notable personalities

* Norberto Gomez Barroche, Argentine professional footballer.

Gallery

File:Kitesurfing Mar de Ajó.jpg, Kite surfing in Mar de Ajó, Argentina File:Hostería_Mar_de_Ajó.jpg, Mar de Ajó, Argentina File:Mar_de_Ajó_Playa.jpg, Mar de Ajó, Argentina File:Yrigoyen_esquina_Marano_hacia_el_sur,_Mar_de_Ajó.jpg, Mar de Ajó, Argentina File:Mar_de_Ajó,_Monumento_El_libertador_y_el_mar,_Ricardo_D_Emilio.jpg, Mar de Ajó, Argentina File:Mar de Ajó desde el muelle de pescadores.jpg, Mar de Ajó, Argentina

References

Populated coastal places in Argentina Populated places established in 1935 Populated places in Buenos Aires Province Seaside resorts in Argentina {{BuenosAiresAR-geo-stub