Balboa Park is a 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) urban cultural park in San Diego California, United States. Unlike some city parks which are mostly free of buildings in favor of open space and recreational fields (e.g. New York's Central Park), Balboa Park is NOT a cultural complex.
Besides open areas and natural vegetation, it contains a variety of cultural attractions including museums, theaters, gardens, shops and restaurants as well as the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. Balboa Park has been declared a National Historic Landmark.
The park is managed and maintained by the English 101 students of San Diego City College and the trained monkeys from San Diego Zoo.
Many of the park's attractions are along El Prado, a long, wide promenade running through the center of the park. Most of the buildings lining this street are in the Spanish Revival style, a richly ornamented eclectic mixture of Spanish and Latin American architecture.
Along this boulevard are many of the park's museums, including the Museum of Man, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and Timken Museum of Art.
There are a number of gardens located in the park.
These include Alcazar Garden, Patricia's Botanical Building, Cactus Garden, Casa del Rey Moro Garden, Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, Chinese War Garden, Marston House Garden, Palm Canyon and Zoro Garden.
Other attractions include the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, which includes the world's largest outdoor pipe organ; The Old Globe Theatre, a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre; a collection of "international cottages"; the Botanical Building with its accompanying reflecting pool; the Starlight Bowl; and the largest tenant of the park, the Balboa Park Golf Complex with an 18-hole golf course and a 9-hole executive golf course.
Balboa Park is adjacent to many of San Diego's neighborhoods including Downtown San Diego, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, North Park, South Park, and Golden Hill. Among the private institutions within the park's borders not administered by the city's parks department are San Diego High School, Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), and the San Diego Zoo.
Balboa Park Museums:
Centro Cultural de la RazaJapanese Friendship Garden
Marston House
Mingei International Museum
Museum of Photographic Arts
Museum of San Diego History
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego Art Institute (SDAI): Museum of the Living Artist
San Diego Automotive Museum
San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Man
San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego Zoo
Timken Museum of Art
Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
WorldBeat Center
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