Osuna – Saint Arcadio´s Park

Saint Arcadio´s Park – Osuna

The Saint Arcadio´s Park is located just few minutes from the Hermitage of Saint Arcadio and the Pastora Arch, next to the Bullring, in the town of Osuna.

Its construction was encouraged at the end of the 18th century by Mr. José de Figueroa Silva Lasso de la Vega. Its name has not changed since it was built and it makes reference to the Patron Saint of Osuna, to whom it is devoted.

Saint Arcadio´s Park is structured by a central walkway, straight and well dimensioned in the manner of a hall, and two side paths: the one closest to the road following a sinuous layout in which the small service buildings take the form of simple pavilions, while the opposite one is it opens like a continuous balcony on the slightly outer levels of the same block.

The central promenade incorporates the most characteristic architectural elements. In the center of the access roundabout, from which the three aforementioned paths start, a circular fountain-spout (with a central spout and a crown of smaller spouts that are collected in the only “cup” that forms it) surrounded by a flower bed at ground level. Along the promenade, on its axis, two ponds lined with white and blue checkerboard glazed ceramics (with lateral spouts to form an arcade with its jets), which divide the promenade in two, which is reinforced with a central planted flower bed of palm trees.

Finally, at the end of the room, immediately at the entrance, a large rectangular pavilion finished in a circular apse that turns its back on the population. This building, raised above the level of the promenade, becomes a privileged place for its contemplation. Its completion is dated in 1927 by the master builder Diego Jiménez. Its configuration as a large pavilion or as a possible bandstand, stars in the Park, being the most important built element. It is made up of a semicircular perimeter arcade on masonry pillars coated and painted, with excessively simplified bases and capitals. More interesting is the structure of trusses that supports the roof, made of wood for the bars that work under compression, and steel for the braces subjected to traction that prevent excessive thrust on the support perimeter.

The Park is in good condition, its plant elements well cared for, highlighting the already described superimposition of a central perspective layout, typical of French baroque gardens, and the layout that is spontaneous on its perimeter, typical of the romantic layouts of English gardens.

Osuna Town Hall