Gran Parque Santa Cecilia, Tláhuac

The Gran Parque Santa Cecilia is a small neighborhood park in the Tláhuac neighborhood of the same name. Just north of the neighborhood market, the two are roughly a 20-minute walk southeast from the Metro Tláhuac station.

The park is one of the best repositories for the famous concrete animals of artist Alberto Pérez Soria. Designed for parks and playgrounds all over Mexico in the early 1970s, today they survive as tremendous works of sculpture. Veritably burned into the consciousness of generations of Mexican people, they seem today as much archetypes as playground novelties. Painted and then repainted, sometimes with dozens of layers, the originals today frolic with some much newer replacements. The newer models remain unpainted: a lion, a gorilla, a hippopotamus, but they all seem equally loved. The combined affect is a huggable, climbable sculpture garden.

The park amenities include a covered forum and performance area. There are newer kids play facilities, too.

Santa Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, is celebrated here as she is in the Plaza Garibaldi on November 22. That’s also the International Day of Music. It falls just a few weeks after the Day of the Dead commemorations for which the neighborhood is making something of a name for itself. Celebrations are bigger and more elaborate each year.

Most visitors will hit the market in the same visit, as it’s right next to the park. And as it’s just one of the parks in Tláhuac, it can make a great place to stop on your way to the chinampas and canal rides.