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All the United States Texas San Antonio Miraflores

Miraflores

An abandoned, decaying sculpture garden built by an eccentric physician in the 1920s now looks more like a forgotten cemetery.

San Antonio, Texas

Added By
William Davis
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Nike with dogs relica.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Nike with dogs relica.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
The main gates.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
An odd statue.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
  knoxium / Atlas Obscura User
Nike in San Antonio.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Tile bench.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Forgotten tiles.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Tile work.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Neglected Nike.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Miraflores from the fence.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Tile mural.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Founded 1921.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Miraflores.   satxwdavis / Atlas Obscura User
Dr. Aureliano Urrutia.   Bain News Service/Public Domain
Gate   I has a bucket / Atlas Obscura User
The defeat of Nike   I has a bucket / Atlas Obscura User
2-5-23   Darrell Powers / Atlas Obscura User
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2-4-23   Darrell Powers / Atlas Obscura User
2-5-23   Darrell Powers / Atlas Obscura User
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About

If there were ever a letter-writing campaign needed to save a city landmark, Miraflores fits the bill. Old, artistic, neglected, forgotten, and in need of restoration, this once-vibrant sculpture garden was a physician's passion project in the early 20th century.

Dr. Aureliano Urrutia was an eccentric fellow, an accomplished physician, art collector, and politician who once served a brief stint as the Interior Minister for Mexico. After learning the president he had served wanted him killed, he fled to San Antonio to continue his medical practice. Once established, Urratia started designing and decorating Miraflores, his own personal art garden. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, he filled with statues, fountains, pools, arches, and tiled benches. 

One of the most fascinating pieces still in the garden is a replica he commissioned of the world-famous Winged Victory of Samothrace that's kept at the Louvre in Paris. According to some tales, the commissioned replica was sent back to France on three separate occasions because port authorities in Houston thought the headless statue had been broken during delivery. Finally, the port was informed the statue was supposed to be headless. This interesting replica is just one of many statues still standing in what's left of Miraflores.

As the doctor grew older, the lush, beautiful garden fell into a state of neglect and was even vandalized over the years. When the doctor died in 1975, Miraflores became the property of the University of the Incarnate Word and then the City of San Antonio in 2006. 

Now, the sculpture looks more like a forgotten cemetery, where the statues and artwork are left to crumble and fade. Miraflores is closed and fenced off from the public, though you can still stop to take pictures from outside the fence. There have been plans to restore and reopen the garden for years, but the money for the restoration, and the work itself, never seems to materialize.

Related Tags

Abandoned Sculpture Gardens Sculptures

Know Before You Go

Closed and fenced off from the public, Miraflores can still be viewed from the fence and gate.

If art lovers feel like sending an email, or letter, to the San Antonio City Council or the major of San Antonio about the necessity of saving and restoring Miraflores, it would be appreciated.

Community Contributors

Added By

satxwdavis

Edited By

Kerry Wolfe, knoxium, Darrell Powers, I has a bucket

  • Kerry Wolfe
  • knoxium
  • Darrell Powers
  • I has a bucket

Published

January 3, 2018

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Sources
  • https://therivardreport.com/miraflores-dr-urrutias-lost-garden/
  • http://www.texasescapes.com/SanAntonioTx/Dr-Aureliano-Urrutia-Tiled-Gates-San-Antonio-Texas.htm
  • http://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/16/archives/aureliano-urrutia104-is-dead-surgeon-mexican-revolutionary.html
  • http://www.expressnews.com/lifestyle/article/The-mysterious-history-of-the-Mexican-surgeon-who-12360649.php
Miraflores
1234-1366 E Hildebrand Ave
San Antonio, Texas
United States
29.465766, -98.467374
Get Directions

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Photo of San Antonio

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