Cosmovitral
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Cosmovitral is a botanical garden in Toluca, noted for its stained-glass panes that encircle the upper-story of the building depicting the cosmos. The Cosmovitral is located on the corner of Juárez and Lerdo de Tejada streets, in downtown. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with tickets at 10 pesos for adults, 5 pesos for children. Guided tours, mostly to explain the Cosmovitral's stained glass, are available. Art exhibitions are hosted regularly.[1]
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[edit] History
Originally, the Cosmovitral building was a market in Toluca, called "Mercado 16 de Septiembre" (the September 16th Market). Construction of the market started on February 22, 1909 and finished in 1920. The building is in art nouveau style, developed by Manuel Arratia, who was from Zumpango, State of Mexico. The ironwork of the building was made by Fundidora y Aceros de Monterrey.
The building continued functioning as market until 1975. The government of the State of Mexico decided to convert the market into a botanical garden. They took advantage of the large windows that surround the building on the second level to transform them into stained-glass murals. The current Cosmovitral was designed by the Mexican artist Leopoldo Flores Valdés. It was inaugurated on 5 July 1980, but it was not finished until 1990 with the installation of the last stained glass panel, called the "Vitroplafón".[2]
[edit] Stained glass panes
The Cosmovitral stained-glass murals consist of 71 stand-glass one-story panes that encompass the entire upper story of the building, containing 3000 meters of colored glass in almost 30,000 pieces in 28 different colors. This is considered to be the largest stained-glass artwork in the world. To build the Cosmovitral 75 tons of metallic structure, 45 tons of glass, and 25 tons of lead were needed. The glass pieces were imported from Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, Japan and the United States. It took almost a year to do the design of the cosmovitral. There were 60 artisans involved in the project. They created the Cosmovitral in 3 years. The surface area of the interior of the building is 5000 meters, 3500 meters which are occupied by different plants. The plants are from Mexico, Africa, Asia, Central America and South America.[2]
The Cosmovitral's stained glass panes have a meaning. Each stained glass pane has a theme, but there is no beginning or end as the panes encircle the building. You can start in any part of the cosmovitral to understand the theme.
The theme or message of The Cosmovitral is Man and his relationship with the Universe. In the front of the building we can see a circle that looks like it is made of fire. There is a man inside the circle. The image is based on the pitagoric proportion aura. On the spring equinox (March 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23) the solar disc crosses the heart of the Sun Man, illuminating this paine from 4-6pm. This phenomenon produces a colorful light explosion. During this period the figure of the man is positioned on the floor with the shape of a mirror, which reflects the light towards the stained-glass panes of the roof. [3]
The Cosmovitral is not just a collection of pictures with independent themes. The Cosmovitral is a chromatic and figurative sequence. The elements of the Cosmovitral are related without a beginning or end. It is just a design developed around the building. It synthesizes every duality like day and night, life and death, creation and destruction. In the Cosmovitral is resumed the succession of vital cycles, these cycles give essence to the Universe. Leopoldo Flores tried to interpret time, movement, and contradictive phenomena of matter into a cosmogony. He tried to harmonize color, shape and content with the parts matter and spirit. It is the story, evolution and schedule of man in a cosmic cycle. Everything is interconnected through a sequence that is developed around the whole building.
The whole Cosmovitral is a succession of scenes. The succession reflects the ideal of the men looking for the light, the truth and wisdom in order to elevate the spirit and be away from the evil and ignorance.[4]
[edit] Botanical Garden
The Japanese explorer and botanist Eizi Matuda is remembered here with a bust and a plaque. Both are situated on the middle of the garden. Matuda arrived to Mexico in 1922 and worked in the State of Mexico for 28 years. He established the Herbario, which is a database of the flora of State of Mexico. He collected more than 6000 indigenous plants that he discovered, identified and classified.
There are more than 400 species of plants in the garden, these are varieties from Central and South America, as well as Africa and Asia, including Azucenas, roses, Mexican orchids, birds of paradise, as well as cypresses and ferns. Details such as plant's scientific and common names, their taxonomic features -- including division, class, order, family and genre -- ,a botanical description of the species, their place of origin and observations are provided for all the plants displayed in the garden. Carefully cultivated and tended to, the plants, trees, flowers and shrubs thrive in the greenhouse-like environment.
The garden has a number of prominent specimens. Among them is the African bird of paradise, a gigantic plant native to Brazil and Guyana. Its foliage resembles a banana tree, but this particular species can reach up to 10 meters high. Also from Brazil, the amaranth is notable for its multi-colored oval leaves fanning out from green, red and purple stems. These attractive plants/trees feature green leaves with yellow veins and purple leaves with red veins.
Another unique plant is the Chinese tulip, a shrub from tropical Asia. The santiaguito is a good representative of Mexico's floral variety. The rich deep-purple color of its leaves contrasts with its tiny pink flowers that only live for a day. The araucaria, or Chile pine, is among the tallest trees in the garden. In proper conditions, this species can reach 60 meters. It is named after the Araucos, an indigenous Chilean population whose diet is mostly based on the fruit of this tree. Information about most of the plants (roughly 70 percent) are found on plaques placed throughout the garden.[5]
This is the list of some plants that can be found in the Botanical Garden:
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | COMMON NAME |
|---|---|
| Begonia aconitifolia | Begonia |
| Asparagus Densiflorus | Esparrago de Ornato |
| Clamen Persicum Mill | Violeta Imperial |
| Ciclamen Persicum | Ciclamen |
| Camella Japonica | Camelia |
| Asplenium Nidus Helecho | Canasta |
| Soleirolia Soleirolii | Lágrima |
| Iresine Herbstii Hook | Amaranto |
| Acanthus Mollis | Acanto |
| Aspidistra Elatior BI | Hoja de salón |
| Trade Scantia | Hierba de pollo |
| Epiphyllum Arguliger | Nopalillo |
| Echeveria Pulvinata | Conchita |
| Primula Obconia | Primavera |
| Laelia Rubescens | Orquídea |
| Acmena Smithii | Jambolerro |
| Acer Negundo L | Acezintle |
| Pelargonium Xhortorum | Bola de fuego |
| Clivia Miniata | Clivia |
| Tolmiea Menziessii | Dolar |
| Ficus benghalensis | Amate[verification needed] |
| Aptenia Cordifolia | Rocio Estrella Morada |
| Dracaena Deremensis | Árbol del Dragón |
[edit] Interesting facts
In October 1980, the lantern of friendship was inaugurated by the governor of Saitama Prefecture, Yawara Hata. The sculpture is a gift from the people of Saitama Prefecture to people of State of Mexico. It is a sign of friendship to commemorate the treaty of October 2, 1979 in which they became "sister-states". This lantern symbolizes the fervent desire of the people of both states to perpetuate the confraternity, the exchange and friendship for the future.
[edit] Images
 Stained glass in the cosmovitral. |
 Stained glass in the cosmovitral. |
 Stained glass in the cosmovitral. |
 Plants in the cosmovitral |
 Plants and stained glass in the cosmovitral. |
[edit] References
- ^ INEGI (1997). Estado de México Guía Turística. INEGI. ISBN 970-13-1194-9.
- ^ a b Cosmovitral-Jardín Botánico. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ El Cosmovitral (Jardin Botanico). Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ Cosmovitral-Jardín Botánico de Toluca. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
- ^ Cosmovitral-Jardín Botánico de Toluca. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
