Parque de la Independencia is Rosario's great urban park — a 126-hectare expanse of lawns, lakes, rose gardens, and tree-lined paths where the city exhales on weekends. It is modelled loosely on Central Park in New York and has the same essential function: a green counterweight to the surrounding urban density.
Within the park you'll find the Juan B. Castagnino Fine Arts Museum (in a handsome Italianate building), the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa football ground (home of Newell's Old Boys), a museum of natural history, a Japanese garden, and a small amusement park for children. The rose garden is a particular highlight in spring. On Sunday afternoons, the park fills with families, joggers, mate-drinkers, and vendors selling everything from empanadas to helados.