Why go
Walk the park's paths to see how a nineteenth-century estate became public green space. Its former palace at the top and the surrounding trees make the visit as much about the Duke of Mandas's legacy as about a break from streets and buildings.
The full story
Cristina Enea takes its name from Cristina Brunetti, Duchess of Mandas. Her husband, Fermín de Lasala, developed the estate on a small rise enclosed by a bend of the Urumea. The grounds were laid out in the manner of an English landscape garden, with winding paths and varied planting rather than formal straight lines. Lasala left the estate to the city with a condition that it remain a park. At the top stands the former residence of the Duke of Mandas, later adapted for environmental education. Later work altered some paths and planting, and new pedestrian connections made the park easier to reach from nearby neighborhoods. The result is a place where the original estate plan and the city's later use can both be seen. Its raised ground also makes it a different kind of walk from the level bayfront.