Parque de las Novias

The Parque de las Novias is one of those parks that’s a park by the simple virtue of it’s own irrascible landscape. Developers would have needed not just bulldozers, but dynamite to have cleared the remarkable volcanic rock. The outcroppings lend themselves to the unique, wild, and untamed landscape. Just getting here, one will notice that the neighborhood streets are punctuated by the trees similar to those in the park, and often with the same rocks underneath.

The park is named for the brides, brides-to-be, and quinceneras, who arrive here for photographs. They often come from the nearby Santa María de los Apóstoles. It’s just to the south in the same neighborhood. Known as the Bosques de Tetlameya, the colonia has long been shaded and this is, again, because the many rocks permitted the trees to grow.

The park is alternately known as the Forest of Francisco Martinez de la Vega(1909-1985). He was a well-known journalist who became governor of San Luis Potosi. The park was also long known as the Luis Murillo Forest. The street out front is also named for Luis Murillo (1872-1928). He was a pedagogue and well-known educator. His illustrated Botanical Atlas from 1904 would still be useful in the Parque de las Novias which seems to be growing in every possible direction.

Even the “Novias” name is not entirely settled. The park appears nearly as frequently as “Parque de los Novios” in City and alcaldía records. This name would at least include a few more of the grooms-to-be in the photos. It’s a remarkable backdrop for pics. And a striking example of the Pedregal landscape that takes up so much of the south of Mexico City.