Zoro Garden is a 6-acre sunken garden within Balboa Park in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located between the

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center The Fleet Science Center (previously the 'Reuben H. Fleet Science Center') is a science museum and planetarium in Balboa Park, located in San Diego, California. It is at the east end of the El Prado Drive walkway, next to the Bea Evenson Fountain ...

and the

Casa de Balboa Casa de Balboa is a building in San Diego's Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park, in the U.S. state of California. The building was originally known as the Commerce and Industries Building, and later called the Canadian Building, the Palace of Bett ...

. The name refers to the Persian mystic

Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=New Persian, Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastria ...

. The stone garden was originally built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. During the 1935-36

California Pacific International Exposition The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...

it was the site of the

Zoro Garden Nudist Colony Zorro Garden Nudist Colony was an attraction at the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition (1935), Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was located in Zoro Garden, a su ...

, which featured mostly-nude performers rather than practicing

nudists Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...

. Zoro Garden is now planted as a

butterfly garden Butterfly gardening is a way to create, improve, and maintain habitat for lepidopterans including butterflies, skippers, and moths. Butterflies have four distinct life stages—egg, larva, chrysalis, and adult. In order to support and sustain ...

. It is open to the public and can be reserved for special events.

References

External links

San Diego Park and Recreation

Balboa Park
Balboa Park (San Diego) History of San Diego Gardens in California {{US-garden-stub