Cerro de la Estrella National Park

Cerro de la Estrella National Park is centered on the Cerro de la Estrella mountain which is located entirely within eastern Mexico City, in the borough of Iztapalapa.

The park was originally designated in 1938 with 1,100 hectares, but the growth of the city has encroached on it and left it with less than 200 hectares. The park is meant to provide cultural and recreational opportunity as well as to protect the mountain, which is important archaeologically and culturally as the site of the pre Hispanic New Fire ceremony and the modern-day Passion Play. Archaeological remains include temples related to the ceremony and older structures such as housing units, petroglyphs, and a major temple related to the Teotihuacan culture. The park and the archaeological sites remain in danger of destruction by encroachment, use of land for agriculture, graffiti and the dumping of garbage.

The park was originally declared in 1938 with about 1,100 hectares but today it is considered to have somewhere between 143 and 192. The park is completely within Mexico City, located in the borough of Iztapalapa bordering the boroughs of Tláhuac and Milpa Alta, bordered by major thoroughfares such as Calzada Ermita Iztapalapa and Calzada México-Tulyehualca.

Most of the administration of the park falls under the Secretaría de Agricultura y Recursos Hidráulicos, with the objectives being a recreational and cultural zone for the borough to increase tourism. Of all the parks and green spaces in the city, it is the most abused with seasonal farming, illegal human settlements, areas used for grazing, the extraction of minerals, the dumping of garbage and even a cemetery. A wall has been constructed around parts of the park to protect it, especially the archeological site, from further encroachments by surrounding neighborhoods.

The park is centered on the Cerro de la Estrella, a small mountain 2,450 metres (8,040 ft) above sea level and 224 metres (735 ft) about the city. It is the highest point in the borough of Iztapalapa. The hill is also called Huizachtepetl which means “sacred mountain.” It was made by volcanic processes, as part of the small mountain chain in the Valley of Mexico called the Sierra de Santa Catarina. The area serves as a recharge area for aquifers to the east of the city.

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Wikipedia