Parque Lira

Parque Lira
Entrance Arch (Francesco Saverio Cavallari, architect)
Location	Tacubaya, Mexico City
Coordinates	19°24′19″N 99°11′18″W / 19.4053073°N 99.1882693°WCoordinates: 19°24′19″N 99°11′18″W / 19.4053073°N 99.1882693°W

Parque Lira is a public park in the Tacubaya district of Mexico City, once a separate town from Mexico City. It is located on the 18th century estate of Vicente Lira. It is entered by a monumental archway designed by Italian architect Francesco Saverio Cavallari,^[1] an Italian architect who was active in Mexico 1857-1864.^[2]

The land was part of what was once a vast estate, including the Casa de la Bola (now a cultural center), once belonging to the Countess of Cortina. With time the land was subdivided, and part became property of the Lira Mora family, textile moguls, during the first part of the twentieth century. The gardens were adorned with a palace, bridges, water mirrors, a pergola and bronze fountains as well as a neoclassical grand archway at the entrance. During the Lázaro Cárdenas del Río government the land was expropriated and an asylum was established here for children with mental illnesses; which functioned until the offices of the Miguel Hidalgo borough were established adjacent to what is now the park.^[3]

The park is located on the eponymous avenue and nearby is an eponymous metrobus (BRT) stop.

References

1. "Tacubaya", Mexico Desconocido (in Spanish)
2. Francisco Vidargas, Mario Sartor (curator), "Dos architectos de transición: Cavallari y Boari", Artisti italiani in America latina. Presenze, contatti, commerzi, no. 63/1997, pp. 73-89
3. "Parque Lira", Mexico City website