Kennedy Park is one of the best known and most visited parks in Lima due to its central location in the district of Miraflores, the most touristic district of the city.
Although there are actually 2 parks: Central Park and Kennedy Park, one next to the other, the entire 22 thousand square meter place is known as Kennedy Park.
Kennedy Miraflores Park (Central Park of Miraflores) | In pre-Columbian times on the Peruvian coast, the indigenous people used to practice a large-scale agrarian economy, although there was a lack of water, they did their best to solve this problem, building water canals for irrigation and bringing the water from The Andes.
The Rímac Valley, including the Kennedy Park area in Miraflores, was part of large agricultural zones where indigenous societies grew corn, cotton, beans, pumpkins, peanuts, yuccas, etc.
The Spanish arrived in Lima in 1535 and maintained the agricultural condition of the entire Miraflores area; but in many cases the native plantations are changed for European crops, so that the entire area of Miraflores during the colonial period, becomes mainly plantations of grapes and sugar cane.
On January 2, 1857, the political creation of the district of Miraflores was finally carried out, under the government of President Ramón Castilla.
During the republican period, Peru had 8 wars, 4 of them were won, 3 tied and 1 lost—War of the Pacific (Peru vs. Chile, 1879-1883); One of the last battles of the War of the Pacific, happened in the district of Miraflores (Kennedy Park), where the locals built many trenches or war redoubts to defend Lima against the Chileans.
This war event is called "The Battle of Miraflores" and it occurred on January 18, 1881; So now you know, if you're staying around the Kennedy Park area, it was a War Camp!
Nowadays, the park occupies an area of approximately 22,000 m², it is highly visited by many locals and tourists due to its history, location and infrastructure; In this place you will find restaurants, street food, bars, shops, banks, hotels and hostels, small information points for tourists, etc.
The official name of this place was Parque Central de Miraflores, but in the 1960s, Parque Central was divided into two public green areas:
The June 7 Park, which commemorates one of the most important battles in Peruvian history and the day of the National Flag.
Kennedy Park, in honor of the US president, John F. Kennedy, for the role he played in the political movement called the Alliance for Progress in the mid-20th century.
However, at the end of the 20th century, the Municipality of Miraflores has restored the original name Parque Central de Miraflores, but still most people call it Parque Kennedy colloquially.
It is located between Diagonal Angamos, José Larco avenues and Schell street; If you are in Miraflores, you can go on foot.
It is open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
This place is 100% Free.
If you dare, you can visit this park on your own, the park is super safe, clean and tidy; In this place you will find:
This park has a particularity that makes it famous and it is the large number of cats that are in it. Of all sizes and colors, cats roam the gardens and you would walk around the park looking for food but also some caresses from visitors.
Why are there so many cats in Kennedy Park? It is said that years ago there were mice in the area, and to solve this problem, people started leaving their cats in the park. These were reproduced and are now part of the park.
Every day local artists are present in the park to offer their paintings and handicrafts to visitors and passers-by. Also inside the park you will find the Chabuca Grande amphitheater where artistic and folkloric shows are held on weekends.
On one side of the park is the Church of the Miraculous Virgin, which is a beautiful Catholic church built in 1939, where you can see stained glass windows with images of the life of Jesus.
In front of the park, along the diagonal avenue, there is a variety of restaurants, especially the famous Sanguchería La Lucha. There is also the pizza street, a busy street on weekend nights because there are bars and some places to dance. You have to be careful with your belongings on this street.
Thanks to its enormous expanse of green areas, beautiful gardens with colorful flowers and leafy trees, this park has become the main lung of the Miraflores district.
This park is ideal for jogging, there is a pedestrian corridor specifically for this type of sport.
This park is ideal for taking a nap, there are seats in almost the entire park, do not worry about the noise; except for the whistles of the birds.
Surprise yourself with the local gastronomy, in this park you will find churros, picarones and the "Carritos Sagucheros", which offer the famous Butifarras- Peruvian ham sandwich with yellow pepper, red onion, lettuce and mayonnaise on French bread.
In this park there is a beautiful amphitheater called “Chabuca Granda”, where on weekends there is live music—cha cha, boleros and salsa, so that people can dance and have fun.
In the central park of Miraflores there is a children's area, dedicated to the little ones with various games, admission is free, you can also take your children to the D'onofrio ice cream parlor, where they not only sell ice cream but also delicious desserts for children. kids.
Meet this beautiful church, which was built in 1939, designed by the famous architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski.
This park is unique, because here you will find dozens of cats of all sizes, breeds and colors; you can also pet them and even feed them.
In Kennedy Park, there is a corridor called "Paseo de los Pintores" where painters and sculptors exhibit their best artistic pieces, local painters practice a type of art known as "Costumbrismo", which is a visual interpretation of daily practices; this type of art was created by the famous mulatto painter Pacho Fierro, in the middle of the 19th century.
In this street, mainly Italian and Peruvian food has been offered since the 70s of the 20th century; Most of the restaurants occupied a large part of the pizza street, which is why the municipality of Miraflores carried out a restoration at the beginning of 2019, to recover the public thoroughfare; Today it looks more orderly and safe.
The best nightclubs, bars and restaurants in Miraflores are located around this street.
If you have just arrived in Peru and you are staying in Miraflores and you do not know how to get to the historic center, do not worry; you can join Free walking tours, departing from Miraflores; We will show you how to get to the center of Lima by local bus, the most emblematic places in the historic center of Lima and what to eat in Lima.
Free.
24 hours.
If you are in the center of Lima, look for the bus stop for the Metro-Bus called Metropolitano (we recommend that you go to the Jirón de la Unión or Colmena station), then take line C north to south, get off at the Ricardo Palma station and walk for about 5 minutes to get to Kennedy Park—the price of the ticket is 2.50 Soles pp.
If you are in Barranco, look for the bus stop for the Metro-Bus called Metropolitano (we recommend you go to the Bulevar station), then take line C heading south to north, get off at the Ricardo Palma station and walk along about 5 minutes to Kennedy Park—the price of the ticket is 2.50 Soles pp.
If you are in a different place, take a taxi or uber, we suggest you haggle the price of the taxi fare, do not be afraid, haggling in Peru is part of our culture.
Why are there many cats in this park?
Many years ago there were many rats and mice that lived in this park, so to solve the problem, the people of Miraflores started leaving their cats in this park and somehow it worked; but over time, the cats multiplied and made this park their home.
Being such a popular park in Miraflores, it has the following services:
If you want to visit Machu Picchu, we recommend you to book your Machu Picchu Entrance Tickets in advance, so you will enjoy your Vacation in Machu Picchu without any problem.
