Parc Güell is without any doubt Barcelona’s most famous park and one of the best tourist attractions Gaudi’s city has to offer. Indeed, Parc Güell is not only a sample of the architect’s genius, but also an interesting Barcelona landmark that stands up to its world-wide reputation. Along with other famous parks situated in major cities of the world (London’s Hyde Park, Vienna’s Stadpark, Paris’ Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne and Tuileries, Rome’s Villa Borghese, Berlin’s Tiergarten, Tokyo’s Ueno, New York City’s Central Park, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park), Park Güell proudly features the list of most visited parks in the world. So, whether you enjoy visiting parks or not, if you a traveling to Barcelona, this is a not-to-be-missed attraction.
Park Guell Facts
Open to the public in 1926, Parc Güell was included on UNESCO World Heritage list in 1984. Started upon the industrialist Eusebi Güell’s initiative, this project was originally designed as an infrastructure for a garden district, and its included many residential buildings.
Each house was supposed to have a sizeable garden and the whole area should have been a green paradise.
As nice as it might seem, Gaudi and Güell’s vision was prone to fail from a financial point of view as only three plots of land were sold.
In a vain attempt to give an example and encourage people to buy land in this area, Gaudi himself bought one of the two prototype homes, and lived there for over 20 years. The architect’s house – Torre Rosa, located close to one of the park’s entrances and surrounded by a beautiful garden, is now open to visitors.
The park’s design bears Gaudi’s marks. Featuring numerous architectural elements carrying archaic and obscure symbols that few of the visitors understand, Parc Güell is a great example of Mediterranean naturalism as well as of Gaudi’s genius mind. Most of the decorative items are inspired from the symbiosis between plant and mineral elements.
Three crosses (known as Turó de les tres creus) stand on the highest point of the park (Calvario), where a church should have been errected, according to the original plans. On the lower side, you will find the main entrance and two iconic buildings that remind visitors of Hansel and Gretel’s gingerbread cottages! The first fairy tales house is home to a souvenir shop and restaurant, while the second one serves as headquarters for the park’s administration.
The Dragon Stairway
Walking between the two pavilions, you will immediately notice a double stairway protected by mosaics decorated side walls. The three folded Dragon Stairway is home to some of the city’s best known symbols: an octopus and a salamander covered colorful shard mosaics. The latter is probably the most photographed spot in the whole park.
The Hypostyle Room
Once you climbed the Dragon Stairway, you will find another of Park Güell’s emblematic landmarks – the Hypostyle Room with its 86 colonnades. Don’t try in vain to take a straight snapshot of the tiles decorated medallions adorning the ceiling of this amazing hall. The supporting columns are purposely not standing vertically. The angle creates an interesting visual effect.
Plaça de la Natura
Right in the heart of the park, you will find an oval square (Plaça de la Natura), on whose North-West side you will find originally shaped benches, on which you can rest for a while and soak up the atmosphere. Turning your face towards the opposite side, you will be simply fascinated by the sight of a long undulating bench decorated with multicolored shards of pottery and glass for whose processing the trencadis technique was used.
This bench’s odd design and the symbolic decorative elements it features make it the snapshots enthusiasts’ favorite spot. You will have to wait for quite a while if you want to get a clear shot of the bench or to capture the panorama that opens onto the lower terrace and the South-Eastern side of the city.
Plaça de la Natura is the current name this part of the park is known by. The square’s initial name was Greek Theatre as this is exactly what it was supposed to function as: a huge open air performances venue. In Gaudi’s vision, the public could attend the shows from the surrounding upper terraces.