Iguazu Falls is located on the river of the same name, on the border of Brazil and Argentina. The name "Iguazu" translates as "big water". Iguazu is not called one of the Seven Wonders of the World for nothing: its width reaches more than 2500 metres. The height of the cascades varies according to different sources from 70 to 80 metres. The waterfall is the most powerful and widest on the planet.
Iguazu is a system of almost 300 stepped cascades, each of which reaches a height of about 85 metres. One of them straddles the border between Argentina and Brazil.
Myths and Facts
The locals have their own legend about the origin of the waterfall. According to legend, a beautiful Naipu aboriginal woman eloped with another man when the god of her tribe decided to marry her. In anger, the god divided the river, and the resulting waterfalls doomed the fugitive to fall forever.
The first European to see the falls was the conquistador Don Álvaro Núñez Cañezo de Baca. His name was immortalised on a slab near the cascade of Arayagaray. The conquistador was religious and named the waterfall Salto de Santa Maria ("St Mary's Leap"). But the name didn't stick. The waterfall was forgotten, and the first map of the area was not drawn until the late nineteenth century.
All the cascades of the waterfall received very sonorous names. On the territory of Argentina - the cascades of the Two Sisters, Ramirez, Mitre, Adam and Eve, Two and Three Musketeers, and others. On the territory of Brazil - Union, Salto - Floriano, Benjamin - Constan and many others.
Everything for the convenience of tourists!
Nowadays, Iguazu is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Argentina. Most of the cascades are located on the territory of this country. For tourists here were built special bridges 2 kilometres long. These bridges connect small islands protruding from the rushing water.
The Argentine government has decreed the creation of the Iguazu National Park to protect and preserve the falls in the future. Nearby Iguazu is a village, hotel complexes including restaurants, hotels, an airfield, and souvenir shops.
On a side note
- Official website: www.iguazuargentina.com
