Chacabuco Park is a public park in the

Parque Chacabuco Parque Chacabuco is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name is due to Chacabuco Park, which is in its centre, taking the name from the Battle of Chacabuco. Geography It is located in the centre-south of Buenos Aires. It limits to th ...

section of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Overview

Situated over 3 mi (5 km) west of colonial Buenos Aires, land belonging to Jesuits was expropriated following their 1767 Papal suppression. The extensive plot was sold to a

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

maker in 1781, remaining in that use until the municipality purchased it in 1898.''Clarín''
/ref> A May 15, 1903, city ordinance provided for the demolition of what had become a gunpowder dump, and outlined a future, 20 hectare (50 acre) park at the site. The facility itself was planned by the City Parks Commissioner, the noted

French Argentine French Argentines (french: Franco-Argentins; es, franco-argentinos) refers to Argentine citizens of full or partial French ancestry or persons born in France who reside in Argentina. French Argentines form one of the largest ancestry groups af ...

urbanist

Charles Thays Carlos Thays (August 20, 1849 – January 31, 1934)Biog ...

, and was opened in 1909. Named in honor of the pivotal 1817

Battle of Chacabuco The Battle of Chacabuco, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, occurred on February 12, 1817. The Army of the Andes of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, led by Captain–General José de San Martín, defeated a Spanish fo ...

, it originally featured ornate entry gates, three football fields, as well as selected business installations, such as a dairy, bookstore and tree nursery.Nuevo Ciclo: Historia del Parque Chacabuco
A number of athletic grounds were installed at the park in 1911, including a running track, tennis courts, swimming pools, and a

bocce (, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancie ...

court. A school for

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

was installed around 1920 and is still operated there, as are two primary schools and a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

facility. One of the special education school's noted instructors was the ill-fated poet,

Alfonsina Storni Alfonsina Storni (22 May 1892 – 25 October 1938) was an Argentine poet and playwright of the modernist period. Early life Storni was born on May 29, 1892 in Sala Capriasca, Switzerland. Her parents were Alfonso Storni and Paola Martignoni, who ...

. The park became well known for its floral variety and selection of decorative sculptures, as well. A

rose garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

featuring over 3,000 varietals was maintained alongside the nursery, and after 1930, numerous memorial and naturalist sculptures were installed, including monuments to

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

Domingo Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...

and Frédéric Chopin, as well as naturalist works evoking the ceremonial

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

maidens (the ''Ñusta''), a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, and others.Hola Parque Chacabuco: esculturas
/ref> The park was further complemented by the 1941 opening of the Church of Our Lady of the

Miraculous Medal The Miraculous Medal (french: Médaille miraculeuse), also known as the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, is a devotional medal, the design of which was originated by Catherine Labouré following her apparitions of the Blessed Virgin MaryAnn Ball, 20 ...

.Parque Chacabuco
The planned construction of a network of intra-city

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s by the last dictatorship's Mayor,

Osvaldo Cacciatore Osvaldo Cacciatore (1924–2007) was an Argentine Air Force brigadier and Mayor of Buenos Aires during the National Reorganization Process military dictatorship. His management at the head of the city of Buenos Aires was controversial for the wor ...

, led to the 1978 destruction of a wide, diagonal swath through the park. The damage to the park (the area's principal green space) was only partially remedied by the 1981 opening of a sports complex and the 1984 construction of a cultural center under the freeway, itself. Works initiated in January 2008 on new freeway on-ramps and off-ramps met with steadfast opposition from neighborhood groups, and their construction was suspended pending review.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chacabuco Park Urban public parks

Chacabuco Chacabuco is one of the many abandoned nitrate or "saltpeter" towns ("oficinas salitreras" in Spanish) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Other nitrate towns of the Atacama Desert include Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works. Unlik ...

1909 establishments in Argentina