Best Concrete Place For A Religious Experience
STAFF PICK: The Garden of Gethsemane is nestled in a corner between the Santa Cruz River Walk and the traffic on westbound Congress Street. Created on the river banks in the late '40s to house the religious sculpture of Felix Lucero, it was moved to the current cite in 1971. High stuccoed walls with intermittent wrought-iron grillwork surround concrete renderings of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, Jesus, Mary and Joseph and others. A tree-darkened path leads the way into the tiny park--it measures about 45 paces by 20 paces. Inside are potted ferns and roses, and all variety of greenery trailing the walls. Trees and pampas grass are massed on either side of the wall at the east side. During even a short stay in the garden, you'll soon become oblivious to the sound of cars whipping along Congress Street and the resonant whir of 18-wheelers on the interstate, and serenity will prevail inside the garden wall of your soul.
