Laguna de los Padres

{{Short description|Lake in Argentina}} {{Infobox lake | name = Laguna de los Padres | image = Club-de-Pescadores-LagunadelosPadres.jpg | caption =Laguna de los Padres from the north | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = |pushpin_map=Argentina Buenos Aires Province | location = General Pueyrredón Partido<br>Province of Buenos Aires<br>Argentina | coords = {{coord|37|56|10.2|S|57|44|5.9|W|region:AR_source:eswiki_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}} | type = Polymictic | inflow = de los Padres stream<ref name=psq/> | outflow = La Tapera stream<ref name=psq/> | catchment = | basin_countries = Argentina | length = {{convert|2,065|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=psq/> | width = {{convert|1,701|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=psq/> | area = {{convert|380|ha|abbr=on}}<ref name="psk">''[http://www.pescapira.com.ar/e_pesqueros/e_elplag/de%20padres.htm Laguna de los Padres]'' from ''Pescapira'' {{in lang|es}}</ref> | depth = {{convert|2.4|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=psq>[http://www.enmardel.com/android/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&catid=37&Itemid=101 ''Laguna de Los Padres''] {{in lang|es}}</ref> | max-depth = {{convert|5|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=psk/> | volume = | residence_time = | shore = {{convert|8.6|km|abbr=on}} | elevation = {{convert|60|m|abbr=on}} | islands = Fishing club island | cities = }} '''Laguna de los Padres''' is a small lake located about 12 miles west of the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina and roughly one mile east of Sierra de los Padres' hills. The name of the lake as well as of the hills nearby has its origins in the Jesuit Fathers (''Padres'') attempting to evangelize the region in the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/sociedad/3-185974-2012-01-22.html|title=Página/12 :: Sociedad :: Los padres de la laguna|last=|first=|date=|website=www.pagina12.com.ar|publisher=|language=Spanish|access-date=2016-08-20}}</ref> The lake has a length of 2,065 mt (6,884 feet) and a width of 1,701 mt (5,670 feet). Its water is shallow and the aquatic flora, like algae, rushes and another species like the myriophyllum aquaticum, commonly known in Argentina as ''gambarussa,'' overpopulates the muddy bottom. Woods of eucalyptus and pines surround the adjacent area, as well as some aboriginal shrub, like the colletia paradoxa, locally known as ''curro''. The area also hosts the southernmost population of tala and some specimenes of sambucus.<ref name=psq/> The place had been open to the public since 1946.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tripin.travel/en/mar-del-plata/laguna-de-los-padres.html|title=The laguna de los padres {{!}} Tripin.travel|last=Tripin.travel|website=www.tripin.travel|access-date=2016-08-19}}</ref> Sport fishing is the main recreational activity, and there is a wharf for row boats in a small island linked to land by a causeway. Watercraft with internal combustion power are not permitted on the lake.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irapescar.com/delospadres/|title=Laguna De los Padres.|last=|first=|date=|website=www.irapescar.com|publisher=|language=Spanish|access-date=2016-08-19}}</ref> Laguna de los Padres also hosted rowing competitions during the 1995 Pan American Games and 2006 South American Games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lacapitalmdp.com/noticias/La-Ciudad/2010/10/25/161390.htm/|title=La gambarrusa coloniza la Laguna de los Padres|last=|first=|date=24 October 2010|website=|publisher=La Capital newspaper|language=Spanish|access-date=2016-08-19}}</ref> thumb|220px|left|Replica of the 18th Century Jesuit mission's chapel

Near the main entrance there is a reconstruction of the ancient Jesuit mission of ''Nuestra Señora del Pilar'', founded in 1746 and abandoned five years later under pressure from the Leuvuches, a nomadic Tehuelche tribe led by chieftain Cangapol. The lake was known as ''Laguna de las Cabrillas'' (lake of the goats) in the Spanish maps of that time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.webmdp.com/reducciondelpilar/Historia.htm|title=Reducción Jesuítica Nuestra Señora del Pilar - Misión del año 1746 en la Laguna de los Padres, zona de Mar del Plata, Argentina|last=|first=|date=|website=www.webmdp.com|publisher=|access-date=2016-08-20}}</ref> Close to the shore there is an old farmhouse, now a museum,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mardelplata.gob.ar/Contenido/museo-municipal-jos%C3%A9-hern%C3%A1ndez-h|title=Museo Municipal José Hernández|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=|language=Spanish|access-date=}}</ref> where writer José Hernández, author of the gaucho's national poem ''Martin Fierro'' lived briefly during his childhood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/entomologiamdp/assignments/lagunadelospadresrefugiodehistoriayvidadenuestraregion|title=Laguna de Los Padres: refugio de historia y vida de nuestra región - "Si me ves... no me pises"|last=|first=|date=|website=sites.google.com|publisher=|language=Spanish|access-date=2016-08-19}}</ref>

==References==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laguna De Los Padres}} Category:Rowing venues Padres Category:Tourist attractions in Mar del Plata Category:General Pueyrredón Partido