“Tenemos un faro, pero nos falta el mar.” These words echo in my mind as we approach the Gran Faro. It stands in Colón. Colón is a town 280 kilometers from Buenos Aires. It’s also 20 kilometers from the Santa Fe province border. This Gran Faro is a unique attraction. It’s a replica of a maritime lighthouse. The original lighthouse is in San Clemente del Tuyú.
But here’s the twist. This Gran Faro isn’t near the sea. It is surrounded by an artificial lake. Marcelo Battaglia says the Gran Faro lacks logic. But he says it’s part of Colón’s identity. The red and white stripes contrast with the endless Pampas plains. People are surprised to see a lighthouse so far from the sea.
The Gran Faro is 20 meters tall. A spiral staircase has 50 steps. These steps lead to a panoramic viewpoint. From the top, you see fields and farmland.
There was a debate when the Gran Faro was built. Colón has a closer historical connection to the mangrullo. But the Gran Faro has made Colón famous. About 6,000 people visit it each month.
The story of the Gran Faro started in the 1970s. Wilmar Cáneo was a high school teacher. He had the idea to build a lighthouse. He thought it would attract visitors. The area was far from tourist routes. Battaglia recalls everyone thought it was crazy. Today, it seems like a pioneering idea.
The project was suspended for years. Then Carlos Mazzieri became mayor. He was a wealthy businessman. He loved landscaping and fishing. Mazzieri knew about Cáneo’s idea. He felt the Gran Faro needed a setting. It needed water around it. So, he sought funding from the national government.
The plan was to create a park. It would use 100 hectares of land. This included a 30-hectare artificial lake. The lake would be three and a half meters deep. Construction began in 1978. For two years, work continued around the clock. Trucks moved earth day and night. The whole town watched as a lake appeared.
The park was finished in early October 1980. A nearby stream was used to fill the lake. Pumps worked non-stop for a month. On October 31, Colón woke up to a new lake. It had an island with 96 hectares. There were 4,000 eucalyptus trees. There was also a restaurant, playgrounds, and cabins. The town’s history had changed.
Political troubles followed. The mayor who realized the park idea was removed from office. He had problems with the law. For 20 years, the park and lake defined the community. It was a meeting place in a land short of water. But the Gran Faro was still waiting.
The Peronist party wanted to win elections. They found an ideal candidate in Carlos Mazzieri. There was a problem. Mazzieri was barred from holding office. He managed to run for mayor again. One of his first projects was building the Gran Faro. But he couldn’t get funding.
The Alianza Club wanted to use the island in the lake. Mazzieri found a way to execute his idea. He put a clause in the agreement. The clause required the club to build the Gran Faro. The club had no money. They had to agree to the mayor’s demand.
It cost $40,000. The club hired a local architect. The Gran Faro was to resemble the San Antonio Lighthouse. That lighthouse is in San Clemente del Tuyú. It is 58 meters tall. Mazzieri wanted a maritime lighthouse on the plains. The result is different from the coastal lighthouse. But it is unique in Buenos Aires province.
The Gran Faro opened on February 27, 2000. It sits on an island, seven meters above ground. The structure is brick with a helical shape. It is 20 meters high. The colors are red, white, and black. The lamp has 2000 watts. The beam can be seen for kilometers. Some say it reaches ten kilometers. Battaglia says, “It illuminates the last bastion of Buenos Aires.”
The mayor who made the Gran Faro a reality had more legal problems. He was removed from office again. This time for tax evasion. The town supported him. Mazzieri died in September 2020 from Covid. The municipality mourned for three days.
Battaglia says they once identified with the mangrullo. Colón has a history as a frontier town. It stands on the site of Fortín Mercedes. After the Conquest of the Desert, immigrants repopulated the land. Colón was officially founded in 1875.
Colón always had an independent spirit. In 1885, residents asked the governor to create a separate district. They wanted to name it after him. The governor refused. The district of Colón was created in 1892. It took land from Pergamino and Rojas. Battaglia notes that Colón has very little unemployment. He says, “We are known as the town of the Lighthouse of the Pampas.”