Miramar is a town in San Justo Department, located in

Córdoba Province (Argentina) Córdoba Province may refer to: * Córdoba Province, Argentina * Córdoba Province (Colombia) * Province of Córdoba (Spain) Córdoba (; also called Cordova in English) is one of the 50 provinces of Spain, in the north-central part of the Autono ...

Overview

Established on November 18, 1924, with the inauguration by Victorio Rosso of the Hotel Miramar, a

health resort A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs. In the era before modern biochemistry and pharmaco ...

, Miramar was the site of a number of

mineral spa Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine. Origins Spas were used for mille ...

s from its early days, and in 1933, a jitney service was started between the town and the provincial capital, Córdoba. The relocation to Miramar of Máximo Palkhe, a businessman from

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater B ...

(a suburb of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

), in 1936, was followed by his decision to have a luxury hotel built on the shores of Mar Chiquita, a saline lake, in 1940. The decision led to the development of other tourist facilities in the hamlet, and Palkhe's Gran Hotel Vienna (named for his wife's birthplace), was inaugurated in 1945. The Palkhes sold the hotel in 1946, and relocated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, however, and the establishment, which closed in 1980, has been at the center of a number of mysteries and controversies in the decades since. The town became a significant center of

tourism in Argentina Argentina has a vast territory and a variety of climates and microclimates ranging from tundra and polar in the south to the tropical climate in the north, through a vast expanse of temperate climate. Natural wonders include the Aconcagua, the ...

from the 1950s to the 1970s, and Miramar, home to 110 hotels in its heyday, grew to around 4,500 inhabitants by the 1970 Census. During that latter decade, however, inflows from the Dulce,

Primero Primero (in English also called Primus, in French ', in Italian ' or in Spanish ''Primera''), is a 16th-century gambling card game of which the earliest reference dates back to 1526. Primero is closely related to the game of primo visto (a.k.a. ...

, and

Segundo River The Segundo River (, 'Second River'), also known as Xanaes, is a river in the center-north of the provinces of Argentina, province of Córdoba Province (Argentina), Córdoba, Argentina. It is born in the Paravachasca Valley at the confluence of th ...

s into Mar Chiquita increased significantly as a result of the

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino; September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especial ...

water cycle The water cycle (or hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle) is a biogeochemical cycle that involves the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth across different reservoirs. The mass of water on Earth remains fai ...

(which prognosticated higher rainfall after 1970), and longstanding

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

in the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or simply Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland tropical dry broadleaf forest natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion o ...

region (north of the area). Record floods in 1977 and 1986 devastated Miramar, and the town was relocated 5 km (3 mi) to the south, to higher ground, in 1992, when most of the flooded ruins were demolished. Amid a significant recovery in the

Argentine economy The economy of Argentina is the second-largest national economy in South America, behind Brazil. Argentina has a human Development Index classified as "very high" by the United Nations, with a highly literate population, an export-oriented Agricult ...

after 2004, tourism in Miramar began to recover. The town, in 2009, was home to 1,527 hotel rooms,''La Voz del Interior''
/ref> and was named Top Natural Wonder of Córdoba Province by a reader survey conducted by ''

La Voz del Interior ''La Voz del Interior'' is a daily Spanish language newspaper edited and published in Córdoba, capital of the province of Córdoba, Argentina and the second-largest city in the country. The newspaper is the leading daily in Córdoba, and one ...

''.Tourist information
/ref> Site of a

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

since 1966, Miramar is also home to the Loma de los Indios Birdwatching Station, and the Miramar Biological Station.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miramar Populated places in Córdoba Province, Argentina Populated places established in 1924 Tourism in Argentina Populated lakeshore places in Argentina Cities in Argentina