Independence Park

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The otero or hill where according to Leandro González Alcorta in the middle of the 18th century the population head of Pinar del Río, the Loma de Cuní, would be settled, as it was also called by the primitive inhabitants of the place, those who first settled on the banks of the Guamá and then fleeing the floodwaters of the river they expanded between its riverbed and the stream of the swamp; it would be the location of the main square (second place of arms) and the third historical center of the city; there the third church would be built, which had its origin in a modest parish that began to be built in 1749, was terminated in 1764 and was severely affected by the 1880 earthquake, so it was demolished.

Thus the square was enlarged in front of the Government House and recalling its original name of Plaza de Armas that it had already been 100 years ago (since approximately 1787) began to be called "Plaza Park", first, and then "Plaza del Recreation ", or" Recreation Park ".

It was already a park, then, when the War for Independence develops; and at the end of it it takes that name: "Parque de la Independencia".

Let's see how the facts went.

On November 22, 1898, the evacuation of the Spanish forces and their families begins in the city of Pinar del Río. Not only was the train the route used, La Coloma also witnessed the departure of the Spaniards on their trip to Havana and, the route less used as considered dangerous, was that of roads. The Spanish Colonel Juan M Pinillos did not officially surrender the square and the Civil Provincial Governor at that time, Antonio Andrés Rubio and Díaz Pimienta, was not the one who officially acclaimed the presence of the Mambian troops in the capital, but the municipal mayor, who at that time At the time it was Leopoldo Sánchez Canals.

On November 28 would be the reception of the mambises, in the theater that would stop calling Lope de Vega that day to be titled Milanés, there General Juan Lorente de la Rosa was honored.

And these facts influenced the proposal that the citizen José González Curbelo presented to the City Council on November 30 of that year 1898: "That a palm surrounded by iron lattice with an inscription on the date pray the date be planted in the Plaza del Recreo of the entrance of General Juan Lorente de la Rosa in front of the mambises in the city of Pinar del Río ".

Other efforts would be made by José Martí's friend, would constitute a commission or "Club Palma de la Libertad", which would be chaired by the wife of his friend and neighbor Antonio Andrés Rubio, Mrs. Estefanía Cañal, which presented a new motion before the City Hall on December 23 of that year.

Councilor Alfredo Porta Rojas echoes these proposals and at his request it is agreed that on January 4, 1899, said palm will be sown and the name of "Parque del Recreo" changed to "Parque de la Independencia".

The Independence Park, through the years underwent several modifications, the first finished version of it belongs to 1917, although it had already varied its structure, then it would have two other significant modifications until its current constitution. Now, when on the initiative of the "Pedro Pablo Oliva Workshop House" there is talk of a patrimonial rescue of the same, I am of the criterion that the version to be rescued would be that of 1917 ... that would mean returning the roundabout then, rescuing the disappeared woodland , sow Palma de la Libertad again, request the return of the lampposts and replace their banks then, among other actions. It would also involve a study of the monuments that have existed in the Park, with the purpose of deciding their relocation to it.

As for the monuments or significant signs, in addition to the lattice and card corresponding to the Palma de la Libertad, I would like to advocate at least for the Monument to the Mothers, of the now disappeared Tiburcio Lorenzo and from which at least the sculpture of the mother with the child in her arms; and I would like to reseed next to the trunk of the fallen Araucaria, a new specimen, to remind the professor of the Institute that sowed that one, the wise Cuban Juan Tomás Roig.

And of course, to rescue the Park would also be to rescue its cultural life and among many things, rescue the toilets, which were even prior to the Park itself and those that gave it the name of "Recreation". This is demonstrated by information of the time, one of the

 

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