This is a small island rich in history and stories which treasures natural singularities, between the Parana delta and the great estuary of the Plata.

It is the only island in the delta that has not been formed by sedimentation, for it is part of a single rocky massif more than 1800 million years old, which also emerges in Brasilia and the Sierras of Tandil; and this is why it is the highest landmark in the zone at only 27 m altitude in its centre.

The island was first seen during the expedition of Juan Diaz de Solis, in the nascent of Rio de la Plata, at 37 km of Tigre, and was baptised in honour of a crewman who died after setting foot on land.

The place was inhabited by Charrúa tribes, and it soon became obvious that it was a strategic place, since the Empires of Spain and Portugal began to quarrel upon it. In 1777, the treaty of San Idelfonso handed the zone, together with the Colony of Sacramento (current Paraguay), to the Spanish Crown.

Since 1516 it was believed that Rio de la Plata was the way towards the Pacific, and hence the "new route" to the Indies. Besides, it was also considered the gate to the silver mines of the Inca Empire too, and this is why the Mar Dulce (Fresh Sea) was called Rio de la Plata (River of Silver).

Martin Garcia Island was the scenario of bloody battles between the nationalist Argentine forces and those who fought for the Spanish Crown. Eventually, on March the 15th of 1814, the island became part of the Government of Buenos Aires, and its heroic defence by the national sailors and combatants, led by Admiral Guillermo Brown, would justify its jurisdiction over it.

In 1850, Don Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) tried to organise what should have been known as the Southern United States or United States of Rio de la Plata, integrated by Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and established his capital on Martin Garcia Island, which he named Argiropolis or City of the Plata.

Between 1870 and 1920 approximately, the island was the port of entrance for all immigrants, especially Europeans, who were there subject to a sanitarian control and, if any serious and contagious disease were detected, they had to undergo quarantine on the island, not only the ill person but the whole crew and passengers of the passing ship.

In those days, the father of the American Modernism, Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916), had his residence on the island. He finished his famous poem "Triumphal March" in the house of a friend doctor where he lived, which keeps the first drafts to this day.

But Martin Garcia Island is also renowned for having been a prison; in 1765 the Spaniards installed a naval and military place of reclusion for the deserters of the Buenos Aires Battalion. Later, in 1896, when the island belonged no more to the Spanish Crown but depended directly on the Government of Buenos Aires, a regular penal operated until 1957.

The island held four known Argentine presidents for political reasons, where they remained imprisoned for different periods of time.

The Treaty of Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay, established an imaginary line in the centre of Rio de la Plata, to be shared by both countries, was signed in 1973; but it made clear that Martin Garcia Island belonged to Argentina.

A national decree declared the island a Historic Site, and in 1974 it was made a National Reserve of Flora and Fauna, a space where approximately one third of the bird and plant species of the country live together.

The island, which housed up to 4000 inhabitants when the Argentine militia occupied it, came to host only 180; leaving as a result many abandoned houses surrounded only by wild nature. These few inhabitants are now exempt of paying taxes and electric light, and only those running a business in their homes have to pay a fee.

The island is a historic place and therefore none of its buildings can be demolished, neither can commercial establishments, which could alter the quietness and physiognomy of the natural place, be built. There are no lots or houses for sale, since the only proprietor of the entire island is the Province of Buenos Aires.

You need a full day to visit the island, since only one ship weighs anchor at Tigre and returns by the end of the day.

Some places are worth visiting, like the former laboratory where Doctor Angel Mazza, discoverer of the vaccine for the Chagas disease, laboured; and the bakery, which dates back to the year 1913, well-known for its handmade sweet bread.

It is currently hard to live on the island unless you have a steady job in the administration, in the prefecture or as a ranger.

The most adventurous can not only enjoy the quietness of the island, but can also spend a night on it too, setting to the river from Tigre, a trip just three hours long. You can camp with no problem in a special sector of the island to be in direct contact with nature.

Nowadays, and due to sedimentation, Timoteo Dominguez Island, which is part of Uruguay, has expanded and connected to Martin Garcia Island, which belongs to Argentina.