[Faline]

This eerie real-life Atlantis has reappeared from under flood waters after spending 25 years submerged.

Some 1,500 residents barely had time to grab their belongings when the spa resort of Villa Epecuen was swamped after a lagoon burst its banks in 1985.

By 1993 the town, in eastern Argentina, which drew 20,000 visitors a year, lay hidden beneath 10 metres of water.

But now, as the salty lagoon water recedes, spooky silvery ruins have re-emerged.

Only one man Pablo Novak, 81, returned to the town, spending his days cycling around the ruins.

He said: “I am OK here. I am just alone. I read the newspaper.

"And I always think of the town’s golden days of the 60s and 70s.”

One former resident, Norma Berg, 48, said: “I had a bunch of cats and dogs, and they ran away a couple days before the flood and I never saw them again.

“I think my pets could feel that the water was coming.”

Stark reminders of daily life remain from the car engines left in the streets to the rusty beds protruding from the water.

The town had 280 businesses, including lodges, guesthouses, hotels and businesses, centred around the tourist trade.

Lago Epecuen’s therapeutic powers have been famous for centuries and the lagoon had salt levels only topped by the Dead Sea.

Legend holds that the lake was formed by the tears of a great Chief crying for the pain of his beloved.

It is said that Epecuen — or ‘eternal spring’ — can cure depression, rheumatism, skin diseases, anaemia, even treat diabetes.

More visitors have come to the town recently in an attempt to salvage materials to recycle from the ruins.

[Viking64]

This is so wonderfully eerie.

[ices]

I was expecting some small assed backward place nobody gave a shit about but thats an entire friggin town similar in size to my hometown.

WHat the hell happened to let it go like that?

[Hobbslefthand]

Wow, that is great! It's got some Lovecraft-ian look going on.

[GregK]

Cool

[kellyhound]

awesome

[Darkest Angel]

What made the waters recede after 25 years???

[Pyramid_Head]

So epic, yet so sad.

[DiamondSmiles]

By Paul Byrne, The Associated Press

EPECUEN, Argentina — A strange ghost town that spent a quarter century under water is coming up for air again in the Argentine farmlands southwest of Buenos Aires.

Epecuen was once a bustling little lakeside resort, where 1,500 people served 20,000 tourists a season. During Argentina's golden age, the same trains that carried grain to the outside world brought visitors from the capital to relax in Epecuen's saltwater baths and spas.

Former resident and tour guide Norma Berg walks along a street in Epecuen, an Argentine village that once was submerged in water, photo 1.

The remains of a car in Epecuen, photo 2.

Buildings lie in ruins. Epecuen was once home to 1,500 residents before it started flooding on November 10, 1985. After heavy rains the lake Epecuen burst its banks . It only took 20 days for the town to submerge beneath almost 10 meters of water, forcing everybody to leave, photo 3.

A young tourist stands on stairs protruding from the rubble of homes, photo 4.

Then a particularly heavy rainstorm followed a series of wet winters, and the lake overflowed its banks on Nov. 10, 1985. Water burst through a retaining wall and spilled into the lakeside streets. People fled with what they could, and within days their homes were submerged under nearly 33 feet of corrosive saltwater.

Now the water has mostly receded, exposing what looks like a scene from a movie about the end of the world. The town hasn't been rebuilt, but it has become a tourist destination again, for people willing to drive at least six hours from Buenos Aires to get here, along 340 miles of narrow country roads. Read the full story.

Trees line a road in Epecuen, photo 5.

Trees are reflected in water in Epecuen. Many residents fled to nearby Carhue, another lakeside town, and set up new hotels and spas, promising relaxing getaways featuring saltwater and mud facials, photo 6.

One man refused to leave the village. Pablo Novak, now 82, still lives on the edge of the town, welcoming people who wander into the wrecked streets, photo 7.

During Argentina's golden age, the same trains that carried grain to the outside world brought visitors from the capital to relax in Epecuen's saltwater baths and spas, photo 8.

Editor's note: Images taken on May 6 & 7, 2013, and made available to NBC News today. All photos by Natacha Pisarenko / AP

[Ozzman]

Awesome.