Park Güell
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Address: Carrer d’Olot 7
Price: adult/child €8/6
Hours: 8:00 AM- 9:30 PM
Nestled up on a hill in the northwestern part of Barcelona is Antoni Gaudí's whimsical Park Güell. This park is one of Barcelona’s most visited attractions. Renowned architect, Antoni Gaudí turns his hand to landscape gardening in this strange, enchanting elevated piece of land that offers killer views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.
Having the entire city sweeping beneath this awesome park on the hill
His passion for natural forms is quite evident throughout this meticulously curated space as detailed artificial sculptures are effortlessly woven through spiral paths that blend into the scenery better than the natural itself. Originally intended as a gated residential community, Park Güell originated in 1900, which was named and commissioned by Count Eusebi Güell. The project was a flop and was abandoned 14 years later but only after Gaudí had created 3km of roads, steps, two houses and a plaza in his famous unique style. The city eventually bought the dense tree-lined estate for use as a public park.
According to experts, this is one of the world’s most impressive man-made landscapes and it doesn’t hurt that the surrounding views are so incredible that they demand your attention. Gaudí’s extravagant artistic style and love of Catalan culture is evident throughout the several acres of green space that have been turned into a real-life canvas of mosaic collages, mushroom-shaped chimneys, and gingerbread gatehouses.
The walk to Park Güell is tiring and mostly up a steep hill, but putting in the work to get there was well worth it. This charmingly, imaginative park was the ideal place to visit during the sunny afternoon. The beautiful shades of blue of the Mediterranean were illuminated by the sun- shaping a serene backdrop for the quirky Art Nouveau landscape.
The steps up from the entrance are guarded by tiled lizards that lead to the pagan-style building Sala Hipóstila. Other Gaudí highlights in focus are the Closed Chapel that marks the highest point in the park, the Room of a Hundred Columns- a covered market held up by tilted Doric-style columns and the Gaudí House Museum. The magnificent serpentine, polychrome bench that encloses the square is a remarkable creation and is one of Barcelona’s best paradigms of trencadís technique (mosaics of broken tile fragments).
Original filtration system
The product of Gaudí’s vision is always more than meets the eye. Much of the park is still wooded but is laced with pathways that seem to get you lost amongst the 88 columns that were originally created to filter water down the hill. Park Güell is one giant playground and truly accentuates the culture and vibrancy of Barcelona. The park gets over four million visitors a year and access is limited to a certain amount of people every half-hour, so it is wise to book ahead online.