el parque ciriaco vázquez

7/31/2019 El Parque Ciriaco Vzquez

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Parque Ciriaco Vzquez

p://www.johntoddjr.com/81%20Ciriaco/domburciriaco.htm[18/06/2012 11:17:29 p.m.]

HistoryCiriaco Vzquez Park

... An Unexpected LetterPhotos and Text by John Todd, Jr.

An Unexpected Letter ArrivesIt started when I received this letter from Rafael Vzquez who lives in Guadalajara:

My name is Rafael Vzquez and my family is related to General Ciriaco Vzquez.

For many years my family has been searching for the rest of the family that we do not know. I wasvery impressed with your article and all the information you have from the family.

Please help me contact my unknown family from Puebla.

Rafael Vzquez M.

"El Parque Ciriaco Vzquez"

A Park with Many NamesA couple of blocks north of Calle Independencia in themiddle of downtown Veracruz is Ciriaco Vzquez Park

with the Francisco Clavijero Elementary School in themiddle.

On the north side it is called "El Parque Hidalgo", andthere are other busts and statues dedicated to people wholived after the Mexican Revolution.

The School Opened in 1887

A Closer LookThe wall surrounding Veracruz was ordered demolishedby Domingo Bureau on July 14, 1880.

The land where the 7 baluartes, or small sentry points andblock houses had been located, he ordered this land to beused for public works such as schools.

The construction of this school was personally supervisedby Bureau and was finished in 1887.


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Nicolas Bravo Monument

Ciriaco Vazquez ParkThis is Gen. Ciriaco Vzquez park, named after thegovernor of Veracruz 1832-1834 when Santa Anna wasPresident of Mexico.

They were old comrades in arms from their days whenthey both were Spanish soldiers.

Domingo Bureaus mother Francisca, was Don Ciriacossister.

In the church records at the Iglesia de la Asuncin indowntown Veracruz, Don Ciriaco is listed as godfather ofDomingo Bureau at his baptism in 1834.

General Ciriaco Vzquez fought bravely at the Battle ofCerro Gordo against the US Army in the MexicanAmerican War where he was killed in action.

For some reason, the main statue in front of the school isdedicated to Gen. Nicolas Bravo with the message "LaColonia Espaola".

Nicolas Bravo Monument

The Sound of a Danzn in the DistanceAs I walked around the plaza, I could hear a "Danzn"playing from a distant radio, and kind of walked in tunewith the slow tropical waltz music from the 1890s, stillpopular in Veracruz.

The Empty PlazaThe empty plaza began to take on a new life as I began toimagine what it must have looked like back in those days.

A man with a handlebar mustache, on a tall bicycle, gentlytouching the brim of a black derby hat to a group of ladieswith parasols and wide skirts in the shade of a wide leafedalmond tree in the park.
http://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.htmlhttp://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.html


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Monument to Don Ciriaco Vzquez

A Forgotten MonumentOff to one side of the park is a bust of Ciriaco Vzquezcontracted by the famous Parisian bronze sculptor J.Graux.

Today J. Grauxs bronze objects of art are pricelessantiques. I am still looking for works by Dumilatre.

Although its not very artistic, it is painted withrustoleum for protection from the corrosive saltatmosphere of Veracruz.

Unknown Legend on Base"J. Graux Bronzes"

Later Correspondence with Rafael VzquezIn later correspondence Rafael confirmed that Don Ciriaco had another brother Jos Dimas and one sisterFrancisca. Rafael comes from the family of Jos Dimas.

Jos Dimas, Brother of Don Ciriaco Vzquez According to stories from his family, in those days Jos Dimas worked for customs or with a shipping agencyin Veracruz.

One of his sons, Luis Pedro later became a Colonel in the Mexican Army. Rafael wrote me in another letter:

A Story of Three Generations In 1867, Coronel Luis Pedro Vazquez, participated very young inthe war against France when Maximiliano invaded Mexico. He alsofought in the "Guerras de Castas" in Yucatan, when the MayanIndians were fighting for their independence from Mexico.

He also fought in the in the Revolution of 1910.

Luis Pedro Vazquez married my grand mother (Julia RomellnBarranco) in Ciudad del Carmen, and they established their homein the city of Veracruz, just in front of the Parque Ciriaco Vazquez.
http://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.htmlhttp://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.htmlhttp://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.htmlhttp://www.johntoddjr.com/42%20DomBur/dombur0.html


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Gen. Luis Pedro Vzquez

My father, Pedro Rafael Vazquez Romelln, studied at the schoolacross the street (locally known as, the "Escuela Cantonal").

They had a good life because his father was in the army of DonPorfirio Diaz, who became President. My grandfather was at themoment "Teniente Coronel".

Gen. Luis Pedro Vzquez

Finally at the end of the Revolution, my grand

father was called to Mexico City, and was offeredthe position of Director of the Military Academy inMexico City, when it was at Chapultepec Castle.

He refused the job saying that he would never teachhis military knowledge to the roba vacas (as thePorfirianos called the Revolutionaries). As a resultof that considered insult the President (VenustianoCarranza, I think) gave an order from Mexico Cityand all the properties from the family where taken.

His Final Years in PovertyAfter more of 50 years of service Luis Pedro lost hisjob in the army. He got no pension and died verypoor in Veracruz.

El Capi

Rafaels Father My father was the only one of his brothers who could study atthe university level, and attended the Escuela Nautica deVeracruz "Fernando Siliceo". He worked as a photographers

assistant at the Dictamen Newspaper to help pay for his career.

My father was able to study because of the help he got fromsome of the great men of the time in Veracruz, (Sres Malpica,Don Fernando Siliceo, Maestro Benito Fentanes, amongothers), that helped him. They knew the family, and the reasonswhy they were suddenly in such poverty.

When he finished his Nautical School, my father worked for theAguila Oil Company (today British Petroleum) as a MerchantMarine Officer. The company 1938 became PEMEX and henavigated Mexican Tankers during the Second World War as a1st Officer in the Tanker "Tampico".

Eight Mexican Tankers sank because of the German torpedoes in the Gulf of Mexico in their effort


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to carry the Mexican Petroleum to the American East Coast, petroleum that was needed for theplanned D Day, and later Recovery of Europe. After the war my father was sent to navigate theMexican Pacific.

When I was born in 1963 he retired from PEMEX after 32 years of service in Mazatlan. Hecontinued to work for another 35 years at the Escuela Nautica in Mazatlan, first as a professor, andlater as the Career Director. He retired at 90 years old, and he finally died al 94 in 2003.

When I wrote to ask if Rafael had ever been to Veracruz, he replied:

Yes, I have been to Veracruz. The last time was in December of 1992, when we had a family reunion,and a lot of the family got together. I had a chance to walk the city with my father explaining how itwas in his time (the times of the Revolution).

When we went to Ciriaco Vazquez Park, he explained everything. He showed us the house wherethey lived and also where he was born. Later, we went to the Panteon Particular to visit the tomb ofthe old members of the family.

Fortunately I have filmed in video all the trip and as you can imagine for us it is a treasure.

In Front of the School

Carried AwaySometimes I get a little carried away and invade peoples privacy, but my curiosity was up.

I wondered if the house where Colonel Luis PedroVazquez grew up was still there.

Late on a Saturday afternoon, when there arent many

people in the downtown area I went back to the parkand took some pictures around the park, and sent themto Rafael to see if he had remembered anything.

This is the letter I received:

Under the Watchful Eyeof Gen. Nicolas Bravo In Front of the School


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Muchas gracias por las fotos. No sabes qu gratos recuerdos vinieron

a mi mente cuando v la casa de mi abuelos.

La casa es la que est al lado izquierdo de la casa de color verde, es la

que parece abandonada de dos pisos y que tiene unos letreros de que

esta en venta.

Esa casa representa mucho para mi pues es la casa es donde naci mi

padre y donde vivi su infancia. Aunque el gusto les dur muy poco

pues como te cont a la muerte de su padre tuvieron que emigrar a

Ciudad del Carmen y aos despues regresaron a Veracruz, pero en

condiciones de mucha pobreza.

En Mexico Los Nios Heroes son de los ms famosos heroes del pas y

nadie sabe que Ciriaco muri tratando de que ese mismo ejercito no

llegara a la ciudad de Mexico en 1847.

Muchas gracias y saludos,

Rafael Vzquez

A Closer LookOld abandoned houses are fascinating, especially in veryold cities like Veracruz. Nobody seems to pay muchattention to them. So, I went in for a closer look to see if

it was really abandoned.

My attention turned to the south side of the park, infront of the school. The front door was probably locatedon the south to be sheltered from "nortes", as well as toface the downtown area and la Calle Independencia andthe plaza some 3 blocks away.

Next to the house is a little "Callejn" that is partiallyrestored to what is must have originally looked like inthe 19th Century. It is a peaceful little street.

This house was still inside the old wall that protectedVeracruz, in front of Fort San Juan. The wall wasordered demolished by Don Domingo Bureau in 1880.


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Callejon Holtzinger

The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez HouseThe Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House

The Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez HouseThe Colonel Luis Pedro Vazquez House

Signs of LifeI looked around for signs of life.

Unlike most of the abandoned houses in the area, Inoticed the door was half open. I had to take a lookinside, but there was nothing but a dark hallway. Itwould be awkward to walk into someones living roomso I backed away.

It looked like someone was living there. Above my headon a balcony was a TV antenna, and next to the "ForSale" sign was a light meter. Someone was still living inthe house.

Perhaps this will be the last renter until this house isalso finally demolished. The City of Veracruz has beentrying to restore at least the facades of some of these oldbuildings, but the task appears to be too much for theirresources.

It also looks like the real estate company that was tryingto sell the house doesnt exist any more either. I triedthe internet address and got no response.


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Hidden Stories from the Streets of Downtown Veracruz Even today when I walk the streets of the old downtown area of Veracruz, I still look for people whomight remember some of the many stories of the past about the abandoned buildings which may soon bedemolished.

Often these stories come from many other countries in the world, and the people of Veracruz are thecustodians of this vast open air museum and are doing the best they can with the limited resources at theirdisposal.

el parque ciriaco vázquez

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