Prado and Jardín Botanico
Día 35 | 4 de octubre
In my final official day of exploring Medellín, I ended up where I began 32 days ago, the place I’ve frequented the most since being here in Medellín, Zona Norte. But before arriving at Jardín Botanico, I meandered through the barrio of Prado, just north of the city center.
For the most part I completely missed out on most of the Prado’s noted landmarks called out in tourist maps, what I did gain was a better understanding of the neighborhood and why it’s identified in tourist guides as one to visit.
Throughout my trek I came across Parroquia al señor de las Misericordias (Church of the Merciful Lord), A church up on the hillside in Manrique, a gothic style church completed in the 1920’s.
When I arrived I came upon a neighborhood bazaar sponsored by the church.
After partaking in the festivities, I made my way down the hillside towards Jardín Botanico. Before arriving I came across Cementario San Pedro, a cemetery of national historic importance, for the noteworthy figures buried on its premises, as well as for its funerary art designs.
After touring the cemetery, I ended the day in Jardín Botanico. One of the original pieces of public space in the city prior to the major investment in public works, Jardín Botanico has been revamped and totally renovated as part of the Zona Norte’s overall redevelopment, the park is a real treasure for the city. Throughout my weeks of being in Medellín, those days spent around the garden, I found it interesting how the people of Medellin used the Jardin Botanical as a leisure/picnic/family park. This in itself, the rapid change in consciousness, is still hard for me to come to terms with. Over the course of my 35 days, the idea that prior to all the recent changes, none of the leisure activities that occur in these spaces today weren’t able to happen in a city prior is unconscionable.
In talking with Marina Pérez de Arcos (a history and economic’s major from the University of York) a week earlier, after our combined Fajardo interview; I admitted that growing up in a country where for the most part, it’s a given right that you’d have public parks, libraries and cultural centers… I couldn’t imagine a life without them. For these things have mean so much in my own personal growth and development, I know that without them I wouldn’t be who I am or even where I am today. And from just knowing this simple fact, I know just how important these projects will be towards the development of the minds which will be Medellín’s future.
below, a few pictures from the day…
medellín 