ARGENTINA: MUSEUM DOUBLES AS UNUSUAL DIVE SCHOOL WITH FLOODED, UNDERGROUND TUNNELS.

Record ID: 448954

  • Title: ARGENTINA: MUSEUM DOUBLES AS UNUSUAL DIVE SCHOOL WITH FLOODED, UNDERGROUND TUNNELS.
  • Date: 10th August 2002
  • Summary: (U1) ADROGUE, ARGENTINA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. STREET IN ADROGUE 2. VARIOUS OF VENEZIA CASTLE 3. INTERIOR OF MUSEUM 4. VARIOUS OF DISPLAYED OBJECTS IN THE MUSEUM 5. VARIOUS OF TUNNELS 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF NATIVOS JORGE BERRO SAYING: "The only valid thesis is that the did it because they liked it and because they could do it...all the novels and all the stories come from here. For us, officially, the tunnels linked the main castle with the other castles." 7. VARIOUS OF SCUBA-DIVERS ENTERING THE TUNNELS 8. VARIOUS UNDERWATER SHOTS OF SCUBA-DIVERS EXPLORING MUSEUM TUNNELS AND PIECES OF ART UNDERWATER 9. VARIOUS OF SCUBA DIVERS GETTING OUT OF THE WATER 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SCUBA-DIVING INSTRUCTOR DANIEL GUTIERREZ SAYING: "This is a good place to train scuba divers because it has crude conditions, and one has to dive to a level where they don't have very much mobility, very similar to caverns, closed in spaces like a shipwreck or submerged structure." 11. VARIOUS OF SCUBA-DIVERS IN CASTLE GARDENS PREPARING SCUBA DIVING EQUIPMENT 12. PLAQUE ON THE DOOR OF THE CASTLE Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 25th August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ADROGUE, ARGENTINA
  • Country: Argentina
  • Reuters ID: LVA109S401J3817Q57E2MZ7WMG60
  • Story Text: A labyrinth of underground tunnels in one of
    Argentina's most famous historic landmarks is a rather unusual
    home to a scuba diving school.



    A hulking stone castle called Venezia is all that's
    left of a massive medieval-style fortress designed by Italian
    architect Giusseppe Canale in the late 1800's in Androgue.

    The quaint city was a favourite vacation spot of former
    Presidents Domingo Sarmiento and Carlos Pellegrini as well as
    writer Jose Luis Borges. Now its main attraction, the Venezia
    castle, serves as a museum of historical artefacts as well as
    an unorthodox scuba-diving school.

    Beneath the fortress-like structure lies a mysterious maze
    of tunnels that has been the stuff of Argentine stories and
    legends for many decades.

    Over the past two years however, the tunnels have been
    filling with water and many are now completely flooded.

    In an effort to save the artwork that remained beneath,
    museum authorities sent scuba divers below when the tunnels
    first started flooding. As it became clear that the water
    couldn't be drained, the officials decided to convert it into
    a diving school.

    "This is a good place to train scuba divers because it has
    crude conditions, and one has to dive to a level where they
    don't have very much mobility, very similar to caverns," said
    diving instructor Daniel Gutierrez.

    The actual purpose of the tunnels is still unknown, museum
    directors said.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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