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Ideal view of the park: wide paths, old trees
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The park San Francisco Field (Spanish literally San Francisco Feld) is a park in the centre of the Spanish city of Oviedo. It is one of the most emblematic places in the city and one of the largest urban parks in Asturias. The park has the shape of an almost isosceles trapezoid, with the apex measuring approximately 225 metres, the two sides around 300 metres and the base around 340 metres. The park is approximately nine hectares in size. It is bordered by four streets: Calle Conde de Torenao to the northwest, Calle Uria to the northeast, Calle Marqués de Santa Cruz to the southeast and Calle Santa Susana to the southwest.
The park or “field” used to include orchards belonging to the now-vanished San Francisco monastery. Some of the paths in the park have special names: Alamos Walk, Bombé Walk, José Cuesta Walk, Italian Street and German Street.
The park has a pond and numerous famous monuments such as the statue of Mafalda or José Tartiere.
It is regularly the venue for cultural events.
The concept of the park differs significantly from the other, larger park in Oviedo, the Parque de Invierno. The Campo de San Francisco offers little space for leisure activities, and is not even suitable for jogging. The meandering paths are more conducive to leisurely strolling and lingering. Flowerbeds prevent you from leaving the paths. The park is more like a botanical garden. There are numerous different native and exotic trees as individual specimens in the park.
The field has its origins in a group of orchards that were the property of the Cabildo, several convents and some private individuals. In 1534, the representatives of the city and the cathedral chapter agreed to transform all the land into a single space for public use.
Since the 15th century, the official documentation of the city collects testimonies about the Campo de San Francisco as a place very frequented by people and the best exit from the city center. At that time it had more extensive boundaries, which extended through the current Uría Street, Pelayo Street, Plaza de la Escandalera and Toreno Street, reaching the areas of Llamaquique, so the park was larger. The plot that borders the current Marqués de Santa Cruz Street was not public and not open to the public, as it corresponded to the orchard of the Franciscan convent. In addition, over the years the complex underwent great changes, with successive urbanizations being carried out in the area to meet new needs, which led to the construction of promenades, roundabouts and tree-lined paths for the enjoyment of the public. The Avenida de Italia was the first avenue to be opened and for centuries it coincided with the beginning of the highway to Galicia, which started from the current Plaza de la Escandalera. There was a Way of the Cross made up of stone stations that led from the convent church to the Chapel of Magdalena del Campo, linked to the Holy Week celebrations in Oviedo and restored in the 17th century.
The changes carried out in the 18th century consisted in the opening of the western axis of the Campo, later called Paseo del Bombé, where a unique building was to be built, the Salón Bombé. The 19th century saw a major urban development boom that definitively marked the Campo with the opening of Uría and Marqués de Santa Cruz streets. This gave rise to a new promenade, the Paseo de los Álamos, a garden avenue parallel to the recently inaugurated Uría street. The mosaic paving of the promenade is the work of Antonio Suárez.1
When the urbanization that gave rise to Uría Street took place, it was necessary to cut down the famous Carbayón de Oviedo that had grown in the Campo de San Francisco and was demolished in 1879, something that was later decided by the Oviedo City Council to remember it with the installation of a commemorative plaque in 1949 on the floor of the pavement in Uría Street number 4.2
The definitive transformation of the landscape of San Francisco into an authentic park in the most English style was carried out by two mayors of the 19th century, Ramón Secades and José Longoria Carbajal, who created a large landscaped area and built ornamental fountains (such as La Fuentona or the Fuente de las Ranas, which borders the Bombé promenade), works related to the hydraulic works carried out in the city during that century.1
In the 19th century, the bandstand was built (1899), a work by Juan Miguel de la Guardia. However, other monuments that can be seen inside also stand out, such as the Romanesque portal of the old Temple of San Isidoro or those that are part of the Open Air Museum of Oviedo, that is, the urban sculptures scattered throughout the site, such as the monuments dedicated to José Tartiere and Clarín, works by sculptors such as Víctor Hevia and Manuel Álvarez Laviada.
Coordinates: 43° 21′ 42,2″ N, 5° 51′ 0,7″ W
