Ueno Park is the largest park in Tokyo, covering an area of 53.2ha (131ac). Originally, it was the precinct of Kan-eiji Temple, but after it was devastated during the Boshin Civil War (1868), a Dutch army surgeon, Dr. A. F. Bauduin, suggested to the newly established Meiji Government that a park should be laid out here. Since its opening in 1873, the park has been a cultural center of the city, home to the Tokyo National Museum, the National Science Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, the Metropolitan Zoo, and Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. The park is also noted for its cherry blossoms. The Statue of Saigo Takamori was installed in Ueno Park in 1897 by Takamura Koun, an illustrious Japanese sculptor, to honor Saigo’s great achievements.