One of the many amazing attractions here in Cleveland are the Cleveland Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park. The land for the gardens was donated by John D. Rockefeller in 1896. Today the park consists of 32 cultural gardens paying tribute to the cultures and diversity of Northeast Ohio. The theme of the gardens is “Peace through mutual understanding”. We will feature some of the gardens over the coming weeks. Today we look at the Croatian Cultural garden and its statue titled Immigrant Mother.
The Immigrant Mother statue was created by Joseph Turkaly and dedicated in 2012 along with the Croatian garden. The inscription on the statue reads “Dedicated to all the Immigrant Mothers who brought their families to America seeking freedom and a new life”. It is a powerful and beautiful statue. Also in the Croatian garden is the baptismal font of Prince Viseslav, the first Croatian ruler.
The first Croatians came to Cleveland in the 1860’s. Cleveland is home to the fourth largest concentration of Croatians in the United States.
Tours of Cleveland provides exciting and educational walking tours of beautiful and historic downtown Cleveland. Tours are offered year round! See our current schedule and book your tour at www.toursofcleveland.com.
