All about Parque de San Juan in Mérida, Mexico
Updated: April 6, 2024
Main Category: Parks & Churches
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Author: Tobias
Parque de San Juan is a slightly larger park in the San Juan neighborhood, three blocks south of Grand Plaza. Parque de San Juan in Mérida, Mexico is about 2.7km away from Casa Loltún. It is located on the outskirts of Mérida. As it is a little further from the city center, you might want to take a car or bus.
Parks & Churches
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Address:
Parque de San Juan, Calle 67A, Centro, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexiko
Website:
Category:
Parks and Churches
Phone:
-
Distance:
2.7km from Casa Loltún
Travel Time:
Within the city
Admission:
No entry fee
Price Level:
-
Since:
2017
Google Rating:
Opening Hours:
• Monday: Open 24 hours
• Tuesday: Open 24 hours
• Wednesday: Open 24 hours
• Thursday: Open 24 hours
• Friday: Open 24 hours
• Saturday: Open 24 hours
• Sunday: Open 24 hours
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Parque de San Juan
Parque de San Juan is one of the slightly larger parks downtown in the San Juan neighborhood, three blocks south of Plaza Grande. As usual, there are many park benches set up and shady large trees.
Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (San Juan Bautista Church), with its beautifully decorated facade, is nestled in the park. The San Juan Church was built between 1769 and 1770 on a seventeenth century chapel.
The focal point of the park is the fountain "Fuente de la Negrita", brought from Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1910, a statue of Benito Juárez was erected.
Benito Pablo Juárez García (1806-1872) was president of Mexico several times between 1858 and 1872. For younger children, there is a playground with slides, swings and seesaws in the park.
Arco de San Juan
On the southern side of the park, the "Arco de San Juan" can be seen, a brick arch that used to indicate the end of the white man's city and the beginning of the Indian quarter. Due to colonization, Mérida has many of such characteristic features of a Spanish city.
It is one of the three old colonial arches that mark the boundaries of old Mérida and dates from the late 17th century. The San Juan arch stands as the city's most significant gateway.
Its reconstruction took place in 1790 under the administration of Lucas de Gálvez y Montes de Oca. The inscription on the plaque of the arch reads:
"In the Year 1790, thanks to the direct involvement, zeal, and wise policies of the Governor Captain General of this Province, Don Lucas de Gálvez, he was able to ignite the generous support of the people, who were lovers of the shared advantages of freedom, and in whose name the funds for the opening and construction were provided."
A small sculpture of St. Juan stands in a niche in the middle of the arch. Today, the famous arch (together with the colorful house facades) is a popular photo motif. It is also the best preserved (respectively restored) old arch of the city.
Image Source (park): ©Sharon Hahn Darlin, flickr, CC BY 2.0, Link
Image Source (arch): ©Sharon Hahn Darlin, flickr, CC BY 2.0, Link
The picture was modified (image improvements, size)
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