Where are the Three-Frontier Marks along the Brazil-Argentina border? Dive into the Universe of Border Marks

The Border (0belisk) Mark at the Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay Triple Border or Tri-Junction: easily accessible. Dedicated in 1903 

By Jackson Lima
Three Frontier Mark is the name given to places where three countries meet. In Portuguese they are called Marco das Três fronteiras. In Spanish they are Hito de las Três Fronteras. In English they are additionally called "border marks".
The Uruguay River marks most of the border between Argentina and Brazil. This border starts at a point where Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay meet at he mouth of the Quaraí River. It is the Three-Frontier Mark number one between the two countries. The border between Argentina and Brazil is 1200 kilometers long. But this posting will concentrate on the stretch of border that was settled only after the intermediation of US president Cleveland in 1895. 

It is the part that begins at the mouth of the Pequeri-Guasu River where the Frontier-Mark number two happens to be. The border will follow this small river all the way up to its headwaters. From the head waters of this river there is a dry-land strech of 25 kilometers going all the way to the wellsprings of the San Antonio / Santo Antônio River.  Now I can go back to the task of answering how many three-frontier marks there are in the Brazil-Argentina Border and what you can do and see there. 

The 3-Frontier Border Obelisk is foiund inside a theme-park like complex where sevraral sotires are told: 1) Peaceful Resolution of the Argetinean/Brazilian Conflict; 2) A chapter of the Jesuit History. The area used to be part of the Spanish Guayrá Province from where the Spanish were expelled. 3) The sorty and memory of Álvar Ñúñez Cabeza de Vaca and The Mission (the movie) Last but not least, 4) The Iguassu falls were here many thousands upon thousands of years ago 

      

The First Three Frontier Border Mark in Itapiranga at the mouth of the Peperi-Guasu River

The third Marco das Três Fronteiras or Three-Frontier Mark happens to be the best known, the most famous, the most visited and the most easily accessible one among the over 6,000 border marks in Brazil: it is the Three-Frontier Mark in Foz do Iguaçu located about, give and take, 20 kilometers downstream from the world-famous Iguassu Falls. It marks the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay at the mouth (Foz) of the Iguaçu / Iguazú River.

The second is the Marco das Três Fronteiras in Itapiranga, Santa Catarina. The landmark located at the mouth of the Peperi-guaçu River, that is, at the place where the Peperi-guaçu River flows into the Uruguay River, marking the border between Brazil and Argentina and between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

In the first, in Foz, there are three countries, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; three states * Paraná, Misiones and Alto Paraná (Paraguay) and three cities, Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil, PR), Puerto Iguazú, (Argentina, Mnes) and Presidente Franco, Alto Paraná, Paraguay. In the second 3-Frontier Mark, two countries, two states and the limits of two cities: Itapiranga (SC) and Derrubadas (RS).

Between Itapiranga (SC) and Foz Iguaçu (PR) the Brazil-Argentina border is made by the Peperi-guaçu river and the Santo Antonio river. Between the headwaters of the two rivers, there are about 25 kilometers of dry frontier, equivalent to the stretch between Barracão and Santo Antônio do Sudoeste where there are 10 main landmarks, 3 secondary, 45 tertiary. They are part of the 310 landmarks on the total border between Brazil and Argentina. But within this universe, they belong to a single family. The family of landmarks that were built after the solution of the Brazil / Argentina conflict in 1895.
 

Between Marco de Itapiranga and Marco de Foz do Iguaçu there are several other famous ones with great historical value. One of them is called Marco Grande da Tríplice Fronteira (The Big Border mark of the Triple Border) located on Avenida Internacional in Dionísio Cerqueira (SC). On the other side of the sidewalk is Avenida Almirante Brown, in Bernardo Irigoyen, Argentina. Dionísio Cerqueira (SC), Barracão (PR) and Bernardo Irigoyen form the Três Fronteiras, or Triple Border, where, again, three cities, two countries and three units of internal administration meet: Paraná, Santa Catarina and Misiones. The three cities are part of the Brazilian list of border twin cities. In this case, it is more the case that they are The Triplet Cities.

A Visitor poses at the The Marco Grande of the Triple Border on International Avenue

Before Foz do Iguaçu, there are two more special landmarks. The first is at the source of the Santo Antônio River  within the territorial limit of the municipality of Santo Antônio do Sudoeste, which is located 12 kilometers downriver from the source. The river will soon mark the border of the two countries, being franchised in the urban area by a small but International Bridge.
From here, the border continues towards the next stop: the mouth of the Santo Antônio River, the place where the Santo Antônio River joins the Iguaçu River in the city of Capanema. Each Brazilian landmark in the mouth of rivers, has a mirror on the Argentine side. From the landmark at the Santo Antônio's mouth, the Iguaçu River, which was 100% Brazilian up to here  becomes 20% Argentine,  on its left side for those going diown stream. The next major landmark will be the third, at the mouth of the Iguaçu River, at one end of the Porto Meira neighborhood with its equivalent at the end of Avenida Tres Fronteras and the beginning of Avenida Eduardo Arrabal (In memoriam, my friend) or Avenida Costanera (Riverside) , on the Argentine side where it is called Hito de las Tres Fronteras.

Devil's Throat begins to the right of the tiny Salto União / Union. This is the Argentina / Brazil Border at the World-famous Iguassu Falls

Before reaching its destination, the place where the Iguaçu River will plunge into the Paraná River, the entire river, will twist to fit into the narrow canyon where it will be named Iguaçu Falls. Just like an imaginary or conventional point that marks the border in Itapiranga, Dionísio Cerqueira and Barracão, Capanema and Foz do Iguaçu, the border also has an exact point at the Iguaçu Falls.
Nature did not allow the heroic border marking team to build a border obelisk at the Falls. It would be crazy. And both the Brazilian and Argentinean demarcators didn't even try. After studying the currents and the rapids involved in that natural contortion to enter the canyon, the men who demarcated this entire border on foot decided to define the border in a small individual cascade called União or Unión. To see Salto União you need to be at the Garganta del Diablo (Garganta do Diabo / Devils Throat) viewpoint on the Argentine side of the Falls. The Union Cascade will be right across from you. 

From the Marco das Três Fronteiras at Itapiranga to the Três Fronteiras Mark in Foz do Iguaçu, there is a family of landmarks. Both the Marco das Três Fronteiras in Santa Catarina, as well as the Marco de Fonteira (Border Mark) in Capanema and the Marco das Três Fronteiras in Foz do Iguaçu are full of symbolism. They are not on the excat border line. These milestones are honorary and what they honor is the efforts of Brazilians and Argentines to find a peaceful solution to the conflict called by Brazilians "The question of Palmas" and by Argentines as "The question of Misiones".

According to the Law of Physics or the principle of impenetrability, two bodies cannot occupy the same space. In the case of the issues of Palma and Misiones, the two countries seemed to have tried to occupy the same space. When we talk about space, we are talking about 33,000 square kilometers that today are in the West of Santa Catarina and in the Southwest of Paraná. Today, we repeat, there are 30 municipalities in Paraná and 53 in Santa Catarina that would not have been Brazilian had President Roosevelt decided in favor of Argentina.   (Check this post which is a list of Brazilian cities that have sprouted on the formerly disputed territory since the early 1900s). . .

What you can see, do and explore in this area:

The Moconá (AR) / Yucumã Falls (BR): same fall different names and sights 

Puerto Iguazu, Argentina  is the starting point for this trip even if you are staying in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. From Iguazu, you will head to the Moconá Falls,in thre area of Soberbio. They are known as the world's widest longitudinal waterfall on the Uruguay River just a bit after the Peperi-Guaçu River dove under it. This a border watertfall and its serves as border limit. It is a jungle suptropical waterfall. 

Those staying on the Argentinean side have hotels and lodges, river boat tours, jungle tours and son on. Even though Brazil has no water, visitors pinpoint that the sight is great. It is poossible to cross the border into Brazil. The Moconá Falls are called Yucumã Falls on the Brazilian side. The Falls are within a Rio Grande do Sul State park called Turvo State Park. The headquarters and visitors' center are in the city of Derrubadas. I would visit Itapiranga across from Derrubadas. It is one of those places you never heard about but might be surprised, if you are lucky, to learn that the big thing happening in town is called Oktoberfest (not this year though because of the Coiv19 siatuation). From Itapiranga, the next stop will be the three border-area ciies of Dionísio Cerqueira, Barracão (Brazil) and Bernardo Irigoyen (Argentina). 

On the Iguassu River past the Santo Antonio / San Antonio River Three-Border Mark on the way to Iguassu Falls

Trying to undesrtand how the border works here is mind-boggling but very amusing. In someplaces you might need more hands and feet to follow the border at the palce where up to eleven "things" converge: three cities, two states and a province, two countries and inner divisions. You can visit the main international Obelisks plus the state obelisks since after the International Peace Deal broked by the US, the two Brazilian states went to war for two years at the cost of thousands of lives. From here you can decide to hit the road  in the directions of Santo Antonîo dio Sudoeste / San Atonio where there is at leat one more mark. I love to think that the next destination is super interesting. Go to to the Mouth of the Santo Antonio River, visit the Border Marks there. That is the place where the Santo Antonio flows into the Iguassu River. The International border Brazil-Argentina begiuns here, also the Iguassu national Park (Brazil) begins in this area. It is possible to go back to the Iguassu Falls area. I will be back to this soon after the Covid human crisis is over.