The Park of the Exhibition (), known between 1999 and 2004 as the Grand Park of Lima (), is a park located in the neighbourhood of

Santa Beatriz Santa Beatriz is a neighbourhood in Lima District. It is the southernmost area of the district. It limits to the north, with the historic centre of Lima; to the east, with La Victoria; to the south, with Lince; and to the west, with Jesús Mar ...

, itself part of the buffer zone of the

historic centre of Lima The Historic Centre of Lima () is the historic city centre of the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. Located in the city's districts of Lima and Rímac, both in the Rímac Valley, it consists of two areas: the first is the Monumental Zone est ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It was built to replace the city's walls, demolished as part of a citywide renovation project in order to host an

international exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

in 1872.

History

The park was occupied by the south gate of the Walls of Lima, known as ''Puerta de Guadalupe''. In the 1870s President

José Balta José Balta y Montero (25 April 1814 – 26 July 1872) was a Peruvian soldier and politician who served as the 19th President of Peru from 1868 to 1872. He was the son of John Balta Bru and Agustina Montero Casafranca. In 1865, he aided Ma ...

ordered the demolition of these walls within its modernisation plan of the city. It was planned that this location would be aimed at building a park that would house the Lima International Exhibition of 1872. Thus, alongside the park, rose the

Palacio de la Exposición The Palacio de la Exposición is a building on Colon Avenue in downtown Lima, Peru. It was constructed in the 19th century with the Park of the Exposition to house the International Exposition of Lima in 1872. Since 1957, it has been home to ...

(now the

Lima Art Museum The Lima Art Museum (Museo de Arte de Lima, MALI) is an art museum in Lima, Peru. The museum is located in the Palacio de la Exposición. The museum was inaugurated in 1961. The collection includes ceramics, textiles, sculptures, and paintings su ...

). The park plan was made by and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Antonio Leonardi. Its design was neo-Renaissance and included the construction of pavilions including a zoo and other buildings. Leonardi also designed the

. In the beginning the largest, covering the current and contemporary

Park of the Reserve A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

and the land where now stands the Estadio Nacional, were part of the park.

Zoo

Among the park's features was a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

, whose animals (and plants) were brought from the

Peruvian Amazon Peruvian Amazonia (), informally known locally as the Peruvian jungle () or just the jungle (), is the area of the Amazon rainforest in Peru, east of the Andes and Peru's borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. Peru has the second-l ...

by an expedition headed by Henrique Casseu in 1871. The expo's catalog lists a total of 271 different species of animals. In addition to this collection, donations were also made, such as that of Peruvian minister in Brazil Luis Mesones, who donated two tigers that arrived via boat. After the exhibition ended, the part of the zoo that faced the (now demolished) square of the same name remained. With the construction of the

Paseo Colón 9 December Avenue (), commonly known as Paseo Colón, is an avenue in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. The street is named after the statue of Christopher Columbus located in the avenue. History The place where the Paseo Colón extends today c ...

in 1899, a new entrance was built. It was completely destroyed during the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

by the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

as part of its occupation of the city, with some animals killed and others stolen by the invading army, as was the case of the lions taken to Santiago Zoo. After the war, the zoo was reestablished through donations from locals and eventual foreign acquisitions, existing until its decay in the early 20th century, caused by poor hygiene conditions and improper care of the animals, the growth of the city, and the worldwide crisis. In 1935, on the city's 400th anniversary, mayor

Luis Gallo Porras Luis Gallo Porras (9 November 1894 – 22 June 1972), was a Peruvian politician from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. He was the mayor of Lima three times, first from 1934 to 1937, second from 1941 to 1945, and third from 1948 to 1949. From 195 ...

ordered that the zoo be moved to

Barranco District Barranco, founded in 1874 as San José de Surco, is one of 43 districts in Lima, Peru. Its current mayor is Jessica Vargas. The district is considered to be the city's most romantic and bohemian, being the home and working place of many of Per ...

, which was not done until 1944. This new zoo closed in 1970, replaced by the Parque de las Leyendas.

Post-Exhibition

During the War of the Pacific, the park housed a

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

and a hospital prior to the occupation, later serving as a headquarters for the Chilean troops. With the celebration of the

centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

of the independence of

Augusto B. Leguía Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo (19 February 1863 – 6 February 1932) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930, the latter term known as the " Oncenio" after its eleven-year length. ...

ordered the construction of several additional buildings, such as the Byzantine Hall and the building that served as headquarters of the Ministry of Development and Public Works, which currently houses the Metropolitan Museum of Lima since 2010. In 1961 the demolition of the so-called

Panopticon The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be ...

was ordered, to be replaced by the

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

construction project. The land north of the park, currently home to the Centre for Military and Historical Studies and the

Museum of Italian Art A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

, originally belonged to the park itself. During the 1970s, the park fell into a severe decline. In the 1990s, during the administration of

Alberto Andrade Alberto Manuel Andrade Carmona (December 24, 1943 – June 19, 2009) was a Peruvian lawyer and politician, born in Lima who served as the Mayor of Lima from 1996 to 2002 and as a Congressman from 2006 until his death. Education He studied at ...

, it was restored and lakes and an amphitheatre were created and the park opened to the park. Andrade renamed the park calling it the Grand Park of Lima () but it later returned to its original name.

Landmarks

References

{{coord, 12, 03, 41, S, 77, 02, 12, W, region:PE_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Park of the Exhibition Parks in Lima World's fair sites in South America Tourist attractions in Lima Geography of Lima 1872 establishments in South America

History

Zoo

Post-Exhibition

Landmarks

See also

References