El Pasatiempo

The park has various murals of cement. Among others we can see a scene of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to a peasant group, Christians devoured by lions in the Roman circus, the already discussed Arbol genealógico del Capital, clocks showing the time in different cities worldwide, and one entitled La paz por el arbitraje (Peace for arbitration) which proclaims peace between peoples through multilateralism.

There is a scene of a duel, which is believed to be referring to the one that in 1870 confronted Antonio of Orleans, Duke of Montpensier and Prince Henry of Bourbon, Duke of Seville. The latter died because of an intentional fatal shooting in a duel that was not meant to be a fight to death. This event prevented both contenders for the Spanish throne and left the options for Amadeo de Saboya [who was finally proclaimed king]

Of special significance is the Sacrificio de Tupac-Amaru (the sacrifice of Tupac-Amaru), a peruvian indigenous leader who would have no monument until many decades later. The series also includes El Fusilamiento de Torrijos (the execution of Torrijos), a copy in cement of the well known painting of Gisbert, that belongs to the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid

Another painting depicts the charity of Santa Isabel de Hungría curando a los enfermos (St. Elizabeth of Hungary healing the sick), a copy of an eponymous painting by Murillo.

The largest mural is an inscription saying "monarchical Spain and its 18 republican daughters ", with the coat of arms of Spain and those of the South American republics The commemoration in 1910 of the first centenary of the independence of Argentina was as an ideal opportunity for mr Juan Naveira to pay tribute to the country that had welcomed him as an emigrant. He devoted a large space in the park to the republic of Argentina, where under an arcade were all the coat of arms of the Argentine provinces were arranged, and where a miniature replica of the obelisk on the Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires and cement busts of the twelve first Argentine presidents were displayed

On the same terrace the Panama Canal is represented, a symbol of progress, of communication and international agreement. Another highlight is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali in Cairo, another symbol of commitment to progress of a responsible monarch. Next to it is the sculptured representation of a photo of a trip made by the Garcia Naveira family to Egypt, depicting them next to the pyramid of Cheops. Above this group also an airplane is shown, that was probably the first one the galician people at that time had seen. Next to it, is an unfinished relief of the Chinese wall.

Standing in the terrace above the whole, the statue of a colossal lion emerged, facing the rising sun.

[Buildings]

The buildings of El Pasatiempo were inspired by the picturesque architecture of pavilions full of exoticism, that also characterized the world expositions at that time. At the entrance there was "the pavilion of mirrors", similar to the one on the world exposition in Paris, and next to it was a hedgerow labyrinth. The trimmer of the hedges succeeded in making very colorful examples, like a dining room and a bedroom in pruned myrtle. In the park there was a Chinese belvedère, of which was said that it was inspired on the one in the park in Palermo (Buenos Aires), and there was an octagonal pavilion that by a passageway connected the lower and the upper part of the garden, over a public road.

.[The role of water]

Water undisputedly played one of the important roles in the park. There were various fountains of Italian and Florentine style, like that of the Four Seasons and of Cupid. Others were allegorical such as Industry, Trade or Agriculture. In addition, in El Pasatiempo one of Spanish first public fountains of the Wallace model was installed. Various ponds, canals and waterplays culd be found though the park..

Among them was the Estanque del Retiro, a very complex sculptured ensemble. The centerpiece is an island, which contains a canopy in the center, with a statue of two nymphs pouring water from two separate pitchers. On the island are two lighthouses, inscribed with the letters S.O.S. The island is surrounded by boats, which appear to revolve around it, representing the evolution of navigation. The progress is represented by a zeppelin and two cars with revolutionary forms.

[Grottos]

But what caused more sensation and nowadays still does, are the artificial grottos, designed originally as a simple tunnel for conveying water to fonts, ponds and fountains. But a visit of mr Juan Naveira to some Italian parks and the roman catacombs was a strong inspiration. In fact, part of the underground galleries are still known nowadays in Betanzos as As Catacombas. In addition, to increase realism in the caves, some medieval anthropomorphic sarcophages were installed (it is thought that they may might be found during the building of the schools [that were funded by the Naveira’s]). Some dinosaurs were also reproduced.

[A creation with a open end]

In the upper level of the park there are three statues made from cement, which frame the staircase leading to the lowest terrace. The first figure, bottom left, represents Justice, who governed the actions of mr Juan Garcia Naveira throughout his life. On the right stands a figure, that seems to represent the Mother, and up in the center a figure -now defunct- of himself, holding his grandson in his lap.

No one knows what was planned to appear at this level, because it apparently is unfinished. His idea could have been to continue the park or adding a second component or, perhaps, he wanted that the park did not have an end and that a door would be left open for successors to continue his work. In any case, this sculptural group around mr Juan Garcia Naveira put on record what was the moral of his work, the ultimate conclusion of his life and the fundaments of what he proposed as order.

[DECAY OF THE PARK]

Mr Juan Garcia Naveira’s interest in maintaining and improving the park did not decline until his death in 1933. But without him El Pasatiempo was orphaned.

The Garcia Naveira brothers had carefully indicated -when alife and in their wills- the way the philanthropic institutions should be maintained after they passed away. However, nowhere it was foreseen how El Pasatiempo should be maintained and continued.

Nevertheless, this situation was probably not the main problem for the future of the park. Only three years after the death of its initiator, the Civil War broke out. A few days after the uprising, a military contingent from A Coruña took Betanzos.

El Pasatiempo, like many other places, suffered from the repression that followed. For the adherents of the self-proclaimed "national crusade" and the regime that gave birth, El Pasatiempo was a complete provocation. The park contained many statues of naked women, pseudo masonic references, a mural that regarded Jesus as "the first socialist" or another that extolled the "Spanish monarchy and her 18 republican daughters”.

Many statues were decapitated and used as a target for shooting at, were robbed or simply destroyed.

The colossal Lion was dynamited. The legend say that this was for moral reasons, since it showed its genitals in detail. If that was the reason for such a compassionless action, its result was at least disappointing. The blast destroyed everything, except the basic support, that consisted of the rear legs and said organs. From this, decades later, the statue was rebuilt.

Amidst the destruction, the descendants of Juan Garcia Naveira tried to regain some of the most valuable pieces of the park.

An example is the wonderful collection of 12 marble busts of the Roman emperors. The daughter of mr Juan Naveira rescued them from El Pasatiempo, when the looting had begun and placed them in the garden of her emblematic and nowadays vanished residence Casa de Dona Agueda. The busts were sold in the late 60s to [the insurance company] La Union y el Fénix, where they were exposed in the boardroom on the topfloor of its headquarters in Madrid (nowadays the [insurance company] Mutua Madrilena). In 2000 they went to a public auction, but the city of Betanzos could not obtain them in the bidding against an anonymous collector.

Also at the end of the sixties the two lions at the entrance, made from Carara marble, copies of those of Canova in the tomb of the Pope, were sold for 500,000 pesetas and sent to the Santuario de Covadonga. The wrought iron fence surrounding the garden is now in the Pazo de Armuño de Bergondo [a manor near Betanzos]

The lead pipes of the complex hydraulic system were ripped to be sold and many other materials were plundered in a process that was to last for decades.

After the war a concentration camp was installed nearby in the abandoned tannery A Magdalena. Hundreds of prisoners were interned, most of them from the fronts of Catalonia. Among the many anonymous people was [the jesuit missionary] Vincente Ferrer, who recently [2009] died and who in one of his speeches memorized how the neighbors provided food, mail, tobacco and washed his clothes.

The enclosure of that prison bordered El Pasatiempo and that produced all kinds of stories. It has been said that, from time to time, the guards had fun chasing prisoners through the caves of the park. Also some people recall how some caves were used as punishment cells. Others however quoted that fences were installed to prevent its use as a hideout by wandering refugees from the resistance.

Be that as it may, the degradation of El Pasatiempo continued. The grounds of the lower area were plowed and transformed into farmland. The slope and the caves were saved from this traumatic change. But they were overgrown with wild vegetation that in the end almost completely covered it up..

Because of the construction of the ring road, the wall at the backside of the garden was thrown down. In the 70’s depositing of debris was officilally admitted and these filled up "Pond of the Popes". And still in the early 80’s there was the miserable scene of statues arising among the crops: the Estatua de la Caridad, the statue of the Garcia Naveira brothers and the Fountain of the Four Seasons, which was the center of a cabbage field (today it is surrounded by installations of questionable taste).

[Recovery]

In the mid-80s the discussion about the recovery of the Park began, if not in its former glory, then in a basic form, appropriate to its history. Since then, numerous efforts have been made, albeit with mixed results. A part of the lower area has become a park again, although not very different from those in many other cities. The sports and educational facilities -modelled in gray and eternit blocks- and the billboards that prospered in recent decades on the ancient territory of El Pasatiempo, are evidence of the irreversibility of history. The part of the hill and the caves were better off. The ruins have been gradually recovered and today their representation is the only way one can imagine the park's former splendor.

To round off this trilogy, let’s use the paraphrase Delfin Marino made about El Pasatiempo:

"another attempt of a feverish epoch to find new ways

to express the emergence of a complex civilization”.

(added to OEE-texts april 2010)