Bustamante Park is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

in Providencia,

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. It is built on the former site of ''Pirque railroad station'' and adjacent classification yard. The park is bounded by

Providencia Avenue Avenida Providencia is a major thoroughfare in Santiago, Chile. It runs along the commune of Providencia. Description Providencia begins at the northern terminus of Vicuña Mackenna Avenue as a continuation of Alameda Avenue. Immediately, the op ...

on the north, just south of

Plaza Baquedano Plaza Baquedano, commonly known as Plaza Italia, is a major landmark in Santiago, Chile. The plaza was inaugurated in 1928, being crowned by a monument made by Chilean sculptor Virgínio Arias and featuring General Manuel Baquedano, giving the ...

, and Marín Street on the south.

Features

Bustamante Park features bicykle paths, exercise equipment, a

literary café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

and

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, tho ...

. In recent years a number of new cafés and restaurants have opened around the park. Bustamante Park has also become a popular location for outdoor entertainment, with the ''Providencia Theatre Festival'' held there annually. Line 5 of the

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...

runs under the entire length of the park, stopping at Baquedano and Parque Bustamante metro stations.

Valdivieso advertising sign The Valdivieso advertising sign (Spanish: letrero publicitario de Valdivieso) is a rooftop outdoor advertisement at 93 General Bustamante Street, Santiago, Chile. Erected around 1954, it was declared a National Monument of Chile on May 31, 2010. ...

is located on one of the buildings that line the park.

Origins and development

Both the park and the avenue bordering it to the east take their name from José Antonio Bustamante, who fought in the battles of

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. Unlike ...

and Maipú. In the 19th century, located in the area where the park now stands was an avenue running parallel to

Vicuña Mackenna Avenue Avenida Vicuña Mackenna (Vicuña Mackenna Avenue) is one of the main transport arteries of Santiago, Chile, joining Santiago center with more remote urban centers such as the communes of La Florida and Puente Alto. Vicuña Mackenna Avenue begin ...

. This disappeared in 1894 to make way for a railway joining

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

with

Puente Alto Puente, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Spanish language, may refer to: People * Puente (surname) Places *La Puente, California, USA * Puente Alto, city and commune of Chile *Puente de Ixtla, city in Mexico *Puente Genil, village in the Spanish provi ...

, which was then otherwise isolated from the city, through Pirque railroad station (built facing

between 1905 and 1911, today the location of Metro Baquedano).Alejandro Dreisziger
El Parque Bustamante
Chile.com. Retrieved 6 December 2012. In the early 1940s, the stretch of rail between

Pirque Pirque () is a commune of Chile in Cordillera Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region; it is located 2.8 kilometers southeast of Puente Alto and 21.3 kilometers south-southeast of the center of Santiago. It is situated at the base of the Cajón de ...

railroad station and Ñuñoa railroad station was dismantled, with the Pirque railroad station demolished by 1943, leaving space for the park to take shape.Carlos Palacios Sturiza
Las dos caras del Parque Bustamante
La Tercera. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2012. On December 27, 1947, at the northern end of the park towards

, the Monument to Manuel Rodríguez was installed. In May 2008, the project of the architect

Germán Bannen Germán Bannen Lay (25 May 1928−14 October 2019) was a Chilean people, Chilean engineer and politician. He was Urbanism National Prize in 2003. Bannen developed well part of his professional trajectory as an urban advisor for the Municipality ...

was inaugurated; a two-story Literary Café ''"Café Literario"'' with a cafeteria, small library and reading spaces, as well as views of the park with a

water mirror Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

included. Some time later, a

was opened between ''Avenida Rancagua'' and ''Avenida Francisco Bilbao''.

Gallery

File:Remever eugenia paz-38.jpg, ''Café Literario'', Bustamente Park File:Avda Bustamente 20180129 fRF23 -parque anfiteatro.jpg, ''Anfiteatro'', Bustamante Park File:Nuestra Sra de Pompeya 20180129 fRF01.jpg, ''Nuestra Señora de Pompeya'' Church, Bustamante Park File:Avda Bustamente 20180129 fRF21 -tramo final parque Bust.jpg, Final stretch Bustamente Park

References

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