Berrío Park
| Berrío Park | |
|---|---|
| Parque de Berrío, Parque Berrío | |
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| Location | La Candelaria, Medellín, Colombia |
| Coordinates | 6°14′59″N 75°34′5″W / 6.24972°N 75.56806°WCoordinates: 6°14′59″N 75°34′5″W / 6.24972°N 75.56806°W |
| Open | 1646 |
| Status | Public, open year round |
Berrío Park is an urban plaza located in the geographical heart of Medellín, Colombia. It is popular as a meeting place for local residents and as the main reference of the city for visitors, as there are several attractions nearby. The park is named after Pedro Justo Berrío, who was a conservative politician and governor of Antioquia.
Line A on the Medellín Metro has a stop for Berrío Park.
The history of this park is closely linked with the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, which was initially built in 1649. The Main Square, as it was called at first, was where parishioners gathered together before and after the Eucharist.
Between 1784 and 1892, the plaza was mostly a public market, and this site was also the scene of many executions and large political announcements. On 23 October 1850, the emancipation of slaves was celebrated when 133 of them were given letters of freedom. As in all major cities of Spanish influence, the most affluent families lived around this square. On 29 June 1895, the statue of Pedro Justo Berrio (one of the leading political figures in the region in the nineteenth century) was inaugurated, and since then the square was changed to the name Berrío Park.
Before becoming the quintessential financial district of the city, Berrío Park suffered from several fires throughout the years. As a result, several buildings were demolished in the 60s and 70s and rebuilt with new materials and in a modern style that differed from its previous colonial architecture. Another large remodeling occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the area was redesigned in order to accommodate the new Medellín metro station.
In the center stands the statue of Pedro Justo Berrío, which rests on a pedestal of Carrara marble. The statue was officially requested by the Governor of Antioquia under Ordinance 26 on 24 August 1980. It was created in Rome by Italian artist Giovanni Anderlini, who referenced three photographs of Berrío when making the sculpture. The statue was promised to be the same size as a similar statue of Simón Bolívar, which Tenerani created for Bogota.
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Wikipedia