Among the huge buildings of Tlatelololco is a garden. The Santiago Garden is one of those finds that one comes across while walking through the area trying to get to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. Despite being on the corner of Reforma and Flores Magón, the garden is a space that miraculously escapes the noise.
The construction of the Santiago Garden was in charge of architect Mario Pani as part of the Nonoalco Tlatelolco Urban Complex project, in 1960. Pani was inspired by the Jardín San Marcos in Aguascalientes; the only difference between the Jardín Santiago and its hydrocalida version is that here the enormous arches are not made of ironwork but of stone, so one can visit it at any time of the day without worrying about the heat.
Surrounding the Jardín Santiago is a pink quarry stone balustrade reminiscent of the days when the Alameda Central was surrounded by a similar wall. According to Salvador Novo and his Paseos de la Ciudad de Méxicothe wall of the alameda had a dual function: to restrict the passage of unwanted visitors (especially vagabonds who used to spend the night among the bushes) and to serve as a seat for strollers. Inside, the balustrade of the Jardin Santiago has a bench where one can rest.
Balustrade surrounding the Santiago Garden.
In the center of the garden there is a monopteros temple that is a tribute to the greatness of Tlatelolco and that made it the favorite neighborhood of Hernan Cortés. At the top of this temple is the phrase with which Cuauhtémoc described the area:
"Here we put and settled in the way we found the large lagoon, as atijereada: its waves like silver and shiny as gold, so fragrant and fragrant, where we founded our town of Tlatelulco".
Monopole temple in the Santiago Garden.
A botanical garden for Tlatelolco
While Pani's design is almost 60 years old, the garden's history actually began in the 16th century when the land was part of the convent of Santiago Tlatelolco. From its days as part of the Parroquia de Santiago Apostol, it still retains an atrial cross on one side of the park, which is also a botanical garden.
Atrial cross of the old convent of Santiago Tlatelolco.
Yellow floripond in Santiago Garden.
Among its collection of plants there are 62 different species and only 11 of them are endemic. There is, for example, a huge yellow floripond bush that adds a touch of color to a green landscape of medlars, astronomical trees, banana trees (which do not bear fruit due to the city's climate), some canary palms and, of course, jacarandas. The rest of the plants are only visible as soon as you walk along the paths that run through the park, so you have to walk through it and lose yourself for a moment in its calm, almost therapeutic atmosphere.
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