Belvedere Castle
Central Park's Attraction: The Belvedere Castle
In 1867, Calvert Vaux created an observation tower atop Vista Rock to overlook the reservoir now the Great lawn and part of The Turtle Pond and to have the best views around the park.
Belvedere Castle is a medieval inspire creation complete with a single turret, two balconies, and two pavilions.
Belvedere what means translated in Italian is a “beautiful view.”
Today is use as the visitor center and souvenir shop by The Central Park Conservancy.
The castle has had many uses in the past at first it used to be the weather house of city of New York, remnants of old device to forecast the weather still remain in the rooftop, nowadays mainly as a nature observatory deck.
Architecture:
Norman-Romanesque style, it worked to create a nostalgia for another place and time, a popular theme in the grand European parks of the day.
Location:
Belvedere Castle is just off of the 79th Street Transverse Mid-Park.
Movies Filmed:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Smurfs, My Demon Lovers, Stepmom, 2 Days in New York, Naked City, The Bostonians.
How to Get There:
Find Belvedere Castle in the north of the 79th Street Transverse and south of the Great Lawn. To get there in a round-trip experience, choose our 2 or 3 hour Pedicab Tour, but we can always customize any tour
and finish at The Castle.
vicTOr Mc.
Lic. Tour Guide and Pedicab rickshaw rider at #NYCpedicabs
