In the heart of San Diego lies Balboa Park, the largest urban cultural park in America with a 1,200-acre collection of culture, gardens, and activities. The Park was established in the late 1800s as City Park, and later renamed for the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Many buildings were originally built for the Panama-California exposition of 1915–16, a celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal, and now house an amazing variety of museums and cultural attractions.