Park sights in Barcelona
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Park Güell
North of Gràcia and about 4km from Plaça de Catalunya, Park Güell is where Gaudí turned his hand to landscape gardening. It’s a strange, enchanting place where his passion for natural forms really took flight – to the point where the artificial almost seems more natural than the natural.
Park Güell originated in 1900, when Count Eusebi Güell bought a tree-covered hillside (then outside Barcelona) and hired Gaudí to create a miniature city of houses for the wealthy in landscaped grounds. The project was a commercial flop and was abandoned in 1914 – but not before Gaudí had created 3km of roads and walks, steps, a plaza and two gatehouses in his inimitable manner.…
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B
Parc de la Creueta del Coll
Not far from Park Güell, this refreshing public park has a pleasant, meandering, splashing pool. The pool, along with swings, showers and snack bar, makes a relaxing family stop on hot summer days and is strictly a local affair. The park area is open all year; only the lake-pool closes outside summer.
The park is set inside a deep crater left by long years of stone quarrying. On one side of it, an enormous cement sculpture, Elogio del Agua (Eulogy to Water) by Eduardo Chillida, is suspended. You can wander the trails around the high part of this hill-park and enjoy views of the city and Tibidabo. From the Penitents Metro station, it’s a 15-minute walk. Enter from…
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C
Park
This carefully manicured park remained a private family idyll until the 1970s, when it was opened to the public. Many a fine party and theatrical performance was held here over the years, but now it serves as a kind of museum-park. The gardens take their name from a maze (which is very easy to get lost in!) in their centre, but other paths take you past a pleasant artificial lake or estany, waterfalls, a neoclassical pavilion and a false cemetery. The latter was inspired by 19th-century romanticism, often characterised by an obsession with a swooning, anaemic (some might say plain silly) vision of death.
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Parc del Centre del Poblenou
Barcelona is sprinkled with parks whose principal element is cement, and Jean Nouvel's Parc del Centre del Poblenou, with its stylised metal seats and items of statuary, is no exception. However, the park's Gaudí-inspired cement walls are increasingly covered by sprawling bougainvillea and, inside, some 1000 trees of mostly Mediterranean species are complemented by thousands of smaller bushes and plants. Nouvel’s idea is that the trees, sustained by local ground water, will eventually form a natural canopy over the park.
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Parc de la Ciutadella
Come for a stroll, a picnic, a visit to the zoo or to inspect Catalonia’s regional parliament, but don’t miss a visit to this, the most central green lung in the city. Parc de la Ciutadella is perfect for winding down.
After the War of the Spanish Succession, Felipe V razed a swath of La Ribera to build a huge fortress (La Ciutadella), designed to keep watch over Barcelona. It became a loathed symbol of everything Catalans hated about Madrid and the Bourbon kings, and was later used as a political prison. Only in 1869 did the central government allow its demolition, after which the site was turned into a park and used for the Universal Exhibition of 1888.
The…
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Parc d'Espanya Industrial
This playfully postmodern park with ponds, little waterfalls, green spaces, trees, children’s swings, bar, and the odd towers that look for all the world like sci-fi prison-camp searchlight towers, it is a strange park indeed. It's transformed when illuminated at night and worth a look if you're waiting for a train at Estació Sants.
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Parc de Collserola
Barcelonins needing an escape from the city without heading too far into the countryside seek out this extensive, 8000-hectare park in the hills. It is a great place to hike and bike and bristles with eateries and snack bars. Pick up a map from the Centre d’Informació. The principal point of interest is the sprawling Museu-Casa Verdaguer. Catalonia’s revered writer Jacint Verdaguer lived in this late-18th-century country house before his death on 10 July 1902. Beyond, the park has various other minor highlights, including a smattering of country chapels (some Romanesque), the ragged ruins of the 14th-century Castellciuro castle in the west, various lookout points and,…
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Jardins de Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer
Located near the Estació Parc Montjuïc (funicular station) are the ornamental Jardins de Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, full of beautiful bulbs and aquatic plants.
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