Guell park
The Güell Park (parc Güell in Catalan and Park Güell in its original name) is a public park with gardens and architectural elements located in the upper part of the city of Barcelona (Spain), in the foothills of the Collserola mountain range. The park is located on the southern slope of Mount Carmelo (La Salud neighborhood, in the Gracia district) and adjacent to the northern slope where the Carmelo Park is located (El Carmelo neighborhood, in the Horta-Guinardó district). Conceived as an urbanization, the park was designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí, the greatest exponent of Catalan modernism, commissioned by the businessman Eusebi Güell. Built between 1900 and 1914, it was inaugurated as a public park in 1926.
Park Güell is a reflection of Gaudí's artistic fullness: it belongs to his naturalist period (first decade of the XX century), a period in which the architect perfected his personal style, through inspiration in the organic shapes of nature, for which he put into practice a whole series of new structural solutions originating from his deep analysis of ruled geometry. To this the Catalan artist adds great creative freedom and an imaginative ornamental creation: starting from a certain baroque style, his works acquire great structural richness, shapes and volumes devoid of rationalist rigidity or any classical premise. In Park Güell Gaudí displayed all his architectural genius and put into practice many of his innovative structural solutions that would be emblematic of his organic style and culminate in the Sagrada Família.
The park was conceived by Güell and Gaudí as a structured complex where, within an incomparable framework of natural beauty, high standing homes would be located, with all the technological advances of the time to ensure maximum comfort and with high artistic quality finishes. Likewise, they devised a set impregnated with a strong symbolism, since they tried to synthesize in the common elements of the park many of the ideals, both political and religious, that patrons and architect shared: thus, concepts from political Catalanism are perceptible in the set —above all in the access stairway, where the Catalan Countries are represented— and of the Catholic religion —in the monument to Calvary, originally designed as a chapel. The mythological element is also important: it seems that Güell and Gaudí were inspired by the temple of Apollo in Delphi for their conception of the park.
On the other hand, numerous experts have wanted to see in the park a series of references of varied sign, due to the complex iconography applied by Gaudí to the entire urban project, references that range from political demands to religious exaltation, passing by mythology, history or philosophy. Specifically, many scholars claim to see references to Freemasonry, an unlikely fact due to the deep religious beliefs of both Gaudí and Count Güell and, in any case, not proven by any objective evidence in the entire historiography of the modernist architect. The multiplicity of symbols developed in Park Güell is, as has been said, of a political and religious sign, in any case with a certain mysterious character due to the taste of the time for enigmas and riddles.
The park is listed as a monument declared in the register of Cultural Assets of National Interest of the Catalan heritage and in the register of Assets of Cultural Interest of the Spanish heritage with the code RI-51-0003818. It is also part of the Heritage of Humanity declared by UNESCO as "Works of Antoni Gaudí" with the code 320-001, where it was registered in 1984 next to the Güell palace and the Milà house.
History
The park owes its name to Eusebi Güell, a wealthy businessman and member of an influential bourgeois family from Barcelona. A multifaceted and highly cultured man, he was a writer, painter, linguist, chemist, and biologist. As a businessman, he owned companies such as El Vapor Vell or Cementera Asland, and had shares in other companies such as Tabacos de Filipinas, Banco Hispano Colonial, or the Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España. He was also active in Catalanism and was a deputy in the Cortes in 1878. In 1910 he was named count by King Alfonso XIII. A close friend and patron of Gaudí, he commissioned many of the works carried out by the modernist architect, without interfering in his artistic decisions. For Count Güell, Gaudí built, in addition to Park Güell, the Güell Palace, the Güell cellars, the Güell pavilions and the Colonia Güell crypt.
Güell Park was formed by the union of two estates, Can Muntaner de Dalt and Can Coll i Pujol, on the so-called "montaña Pelada" (today Mount Carmelo), the first one was acquired by Güell in 1899 and the other in 1902 second. This mountain belongs to the foothills of the Collserola mountain range and the part developed by Gaudí is on its southeastern slope, the sunniest and protected from the north winds by the surrounding mountains. The land had belonged to the Marquis de Marianao (mayor of Barcelona in 1905-1906 and 1910-1911), promoter of the Samà park in Cambrils, the work of José Fontseré (1882), one of Gaudí's teachers. According to experts, the Samà park could have served as an influence for the architect from Reus.
Count Güell settled in an old farmhouse from the XVII century (renovated in the XIX) located in the park area before its development, the Larrard house. Gaudí made some reforms to it, between 1906 and 1922: he added a porch and a greenhouse, and designed the access arch to the chapel, whose doors are still preserved. When it became a public park, this house became a school for primary, called General Primo de Rivera and, since 1982, Baldiri Reixac.
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It was Count Güell who planned to turn the foot of the mountain into a residential area, a commission that he entrusted to Gaudí, with whom he had a fruitful professional relationship since 1878, the date on which the businessman was impressed with the talent of the young architect when he see one of his works (a display case made for the Comella glove shop) at the Universal Exposition in Paris that year.
Some of his most usual collaborators worked with Gaudí, such as Josep Maria Jujol, Francisco Berenguer, Joan Bergós, Juan Rubió and Llorenç Matamala. The works were carried out by the contractor José Pardo Casanovas, associated with his nephew Julián Bardier Pardo.
Güell and Gaudí had in mind a project in the style of English garden cities —which is evident in the initial spelling Park Güell—, according to the theories of Ebenezer Howard, which had been introduced at the beginning of the XX century by Cebrià de Montoliu through the magazine Civitas (1911-1919). Count Güell had experience with English labor organization, as reflected in his project for the workers' city of Colonia Güell, in Santa Coloma de Cervelló. this time the objective was that of an urbanization for the bourgeoisie. Likewise, Güell was inspired for the garden areas in the Jardin de la Fontaine in the city of Nîmes, where he lived in his youth.
Shortly after the works began, some prehistoric caves with fossil remains were found in the Turó de les Menes area, which were studied by the geologist Norberto Font y Sagué. It was verified that there were successive geological layers: on lower Devonian dolomitic limestones there was an argillaceous travertine layer, on this a layer of stalagmitic travertine and, finally, of red silt limestone-clay. Apparently, for some period of time there was a pond in this area. On the fossils, remains of mammals, reptiles and mollusks were found, although the presence of the human being was not evidenced. Among the remains identified were specimens of common hedgehog (Erinaceus europeus), rodents (Lagomys corsicanus and Arvicola arvalis), rhinoceros (Rhinoceros marcki), deer (Cervus elaphus), tortoise (Testudo lunellensis and Testudo ibera) and helicids (Helix depereti and Helix almerai). These remains were deposited in the Barcelona Council Seminary museum and, later, in the Martorell Museum of Geology. In 1960 the cave was walled up due to danger of collapse.
For the layout of the tracks in the park, Gaudí used an eclimeter, with which he made a 1:1000 scale map of the land, helped by Julián Bardier. A Ferro-Prussian copy of this plan is in the Cátedra Gaudí. the fence surrounding the park, the entrance pavilions, the carriage shelter, the access stairway, the roads and viaducts, and the sewage system; between 1904 and 1906 the show house, now the Gaudí House-Museum, was built; in 1905 the Trias house was built; between 1908 and 1909 the hypostyle room was built; and between 1907 and 1913 the Greek theater with the undulating bench was erected.
The building permit was not formalized until 1904, in a request directed by Güell to the Barcelona City Council. After a report issued by the municipal architect Miquel Pascual, the project was approved on November 21, 1904 with the approval of Pere Falqués, chief architect of Urbanization and Works. The project was exposed in the Official Gazette of the Province on January 9, 1905.
However, despite the effort put in by both, the project was a commercial failure: it was planned to build a high-class development, with approximately 60 homes scattered in an immense garden, in the immediate vicinity of the city and with a panoramic view over all of Barcelona. Each parcel, triangular in shape, had from 1,200 to 1,400 m², of which only 200 to 240 m², a sixth of the plot, while the rest was dedicated to gardens. The sale price was between 0.75 and 1 peseta per square span, so a plot could be worth 23 000 to 37,000 pesetas, a somewhat expensive price for the time. But the project was unattractive to the people of Barcelona, who found that the area, then little urbanized, was far from the center of Barcelona, at a time when it was What was in fashion were the large buildings of the Ensanche, especially Paseo de Gracia. Thus, only two plots were sold: one of them is the current Gaudí House-Museum, where the architect lived between 1906 and 1925, the work of his collaborator Francesc Berenguer; and the other, the Trias house, owned by the lawyer Martí Trias i Domènech, a friend of Güell and Gaudí, which was the work of the architect Juli Batllevell (1905).
Around 1906 it began to be seen that the project would not bear the expected fruit. Even so, the works continued for the common areas of the urbanization until 1914, when they were paralyzed after the start of the First World War. Perhaps the reason for the failure of the project could be due to the general strike of 1902, which accentuated the distance between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and began a period of political instability that culminated in the Tragic Week of 1909. Another factor could be the manifest Catalan identity of the park, at a time when the Catalan ruling classes approached the central government to ensure the protection of the army against the worker insurgency. Emphasis has also been placed on the rigorous regulations dictated by Güell regarding the construction surface and urbanization management.
Despite the commercial failure, the park was immediately a focus of attraction for tourists and visitors, as well as a meeting place for associations and a center for various events and celebrations. It could be accessed with a ticket that cost 50 cents and was sold at the gatehouse, although with prior permission from Count Güell it could be accessed free of charge. In 1902 there was already a visit by members of the Catalonia Excursionist Center and, in 1903, of the Association of Architects. In 1906 the Garden Party of the First Congress of the Catalan Language was held. In 1907 the Festival of the Associations took place to raise funds for the victims of the floods of that year. In 1908 there was a Congress of Pyrenees, a party in honor of the Catalan Schools and a school party on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Floral Games. In 1909 there was a gymnastics contest and in 1910 a Red Cross volunteer magazine. In 1911 a festival of the Feminine Federation against Tuberculosis. That year, the Infanta Paz de Borbón and her daughter Pilar visited the park. In 1913 there was a meeting of the Valencian Regionalist Center. Since then it has been a regular place for dances —especially sardanas—, parties, sporting events, etc.
After the death of Count Güell in 1918, his heirs decided to sell the park to the Barcelona City Council to convert it into a public park. The first installment of 500,000 pesetas was paid by the City Council to the public limited company created by Güell's heirs after the death of Gaudí (1926), and that same year the park was opened, which since then has been one of the nerve centers of the city of Barcelona, venue for numerous shows and public events and a center of great tourist interest. The new public park was inaugurated on April 26, 1926.
In 1969, Park Güell was named a National Historic-Artistic Monument and, in 1984, UNESCO included it in the World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí". Between 1987 and 1994, a restoration of the park, in charge of Elías Torres and José Antonio Martínez Lapeña, with the collaboration of Joan Bassegoda. A project to adapt the north face of the mountain is pending —which did not enter into Gaudí's project—, especially the forest area, where the fountain of San Salvador de Horta is located.
A parallel project to Park Güell and an excellent example of a garden designed by Gaudí are the gardens of Can Artigas, in La Pobla de Lillet (1905-1907), commissioned by the textile industrialist Joan Artigas i Alart. Operators who had worked in Park Güell, who carried out a project similar to that of the famous Barcelona park, were involved in this work, so the stylistic and structural similarities are evident between both works. As in Park Güell, Gaudí designed gardens fully integrated into nature, with a set of buildings with organic lines that blend perfectly with the natural environment.
First International Congress of the Catalan Language (1906)
Garden-party of the First International Congress of the Catalan Language (1906)
Scabbard dance in the park Güell (1906)
Festival for the benefit of the Asylum of Saint Lucia (1908)
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Description
The park covers an area of 17.18 hectares. It is a Devonian terrain, formed by layers of slate and limestone.Gaudi always tried to achieve a perfect integration of his works in nature and this park is a perfect example of this. In its design, natural and architectural elements are optimally combined, without right angles, everything is resolved with wavy shapes.
When Gaudí took charge of the project, the area was deforested —as its name “Pelada mountain” indicated—, so he had new vegetation planted, for which he chose native Mediterranean species, those that best adapted to the terrain: pine, carob, holm oak, oak, cork oak, eucalyptus, palm, cypress, olive, fig, almond, plum, mimosa, mastic, ivy, machia, kermes oak, broom, rockrose, rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, laurel, etc.
Gaudí conceived the park with a religious sense as well as organic and urban planning, since he took advantage of the 60-meter drop in the mountain —whose height ranges from 150 to 210 m— to project a path of spiritual elevation, which would lead to a chapel on its top —which was not built in the end—, in the place currently occupied by the monument to Calvary (or Hill of the Three Crosses).
The park is divided between the monumental area —the one designed by Gaudí— and a forest area on the north slope of Mount Carmel, whose most outstanding element is the fountain of San Salvador de Horta: of remote origin, it is a natural water mine, located in a place of plane trees, oaks, ash trees and strawberry trees. On the wall of the pump, there is a ceramic panel with the image of San Salvador de Horta kneeling in front of the Virgin and Child. The environment was remodeled in 1984 by Joaquim Casamor.
Other corners of the park are the Joan Sales viewpoint —dedicated to this writer—, from where there is an excellent perspective of Barcelona, and Moragas square, where there is a children's and picnic area and a stele dedicated to the pedagogue Jeroni de Moragas, the work of Rafael Solanic from 1969. Xavier Turull and demolished in 1963, of which only the wall, a door and a capital remain.
Among the plant species, after Gaudí's intervention, the most widely planted have been pitospores and magnolias. Other species present in the park are: acanthus, oleander, oleander, basil, tree alfalfa, privet, hackberry, aloe, arauja, tree of love, arracamoños, creeping pigweed, brazier, bell, castanet, barley, centranto, locks, cerrillo, prickly pear, dondiego de noche, durillo, wild asparagus, whitethorn, firethorn, euphorbia, heliotrope, cape ivy, fennel, jasmine, magarza, mallow, sea cress, black millet, heart of palm, downy panizo, Aleppo pine, plumbago, pita, tipuana, devil's tomatillo, stinking clover, tuya, viborera and sarsaparilla.
Among the park's fauna, birds stand out especially, of which there are some sixty species registered. Some of them live there all year (pigeon, blackbird, sparrow, goldfinch, heron, robin, chaffinch, starling, chickadee, swift, green), while others settle temporarily, especially in warm times (swallow, hoopoe). The Barcelona Department of Parks and Gardens encourages the presence of birds by placing nesting boxes, dining rooms and drinking troughs.
The park has shops, bars and services, as well as children's areas, a dog area, petanque and skating rinks and picnic areas.
The entrance
The access to the park presents an allegorical structure of great symbolism where, within the conceptual parameters shared by Gaudí and Count Güell, focused on political Catalanism and the Catholic religion, the urbanization is presented as an allegory that represents what highest level of the terrestrial and spiritual world, with references both to the advance of industry and the development of the bourgeoisie as well as to the culture of the classical Greco-Roman tradition and, especially and above all, the presence of religion: access to the park represents the entrance to Paradise, to the utopian place where calm and well-being reign.
Gaudí placed the entrance in the lowest part of the mountain (Calle de Olot), the closest to the town centre. As access, he devised a monumental entrance with a pair of mechanical gazelles that would open with the two doors, but it was never built. A wooden gate was installed in its place until, in 1965, a wrought iron gate was installed —with a pattern inspired by palmetto leaves— which was transferred to the park from the Vicens house, one of the first works of Gaudí (1883-1888). The park has eight other entrances: two on the sides at each end of Olot street, one on the San José de la Montaña Sanctuary avenue, on the Gloria descent, on the from Coll del Portell, on the Carmelo road, on the Can Móra road and on Torrent del Remei street.
On both sides of the entrance gate there are two pavilions, one for the concierge and the other for administration and maintenance of the urbanization, as well as for receiving visitors. Next to the pavilions is a wall that it had to wrap around the enclosure, although it was only partially built. It is 210 m long and varies in height from 2 to 4 m. It is built with rustic stone from the area and topped with ceramic, alternating white and red stripes, and has medallions with the inscriptions "Park" and "Güell". There are a total of 15 medallions of different colors, circular in shape and 1.4 m in diameter. Both the wall and the pavilions were built between 1900 and 1903.
At the entrance there is a 400 m² lobby to organize the accesses to the park, on whose sides there are two service areas as grottos: the one on the left was designed for a garage and warehouse, although it currently houses a bar and some toilets; the one on the right was used as a shelter for carriages. The latter has a circular room with a toric vault supported by a central conical column, with a structure that resembles the legs of an elephant; This column is similar to the one in the crypt of the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, a possible place of inspiration for the architect. battlements.
The pavilions
The entrance pavilions are in the purest Gaudinian style, with an organic structure that reflects Gaudí's in-depth study of nature. Made with local stone masonry, they stand out for their hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped vaults, covered with brightly colored ceramics. Gaudí used the technique of the Catalan vault or "bóveda tabicada", which consisted of superimposing several layers of bricks with mortar. Some of the structures were prefabricated and then installed in their corresponding places, which Gaudí was once again ahead of. to current construction techniques.
The goal pavilion measures in plan 14.80 × 7.66 m and has a height of 21m. It is made of masonry, covered with trencadís on the windows, cornices and battlements. The building is made up of two bodies, one elongated in shape that faces the street and the other at the back, which has an entrance porch with a stone column. It has three floors: the ground floor is made up of three bays with octagonal columns that support parabolic arches and has four rooms (lobby, dining room, kitchen and living room); in a mezzanine are the toilets; on the second floor were the bedrooms, in a total of four; and on the third floor is the attic, covered with hyperboloidal vaults and two terraces with battlements. In the windows of the attic there are some trencadis crosses in warped shapes. The building is crowned with a tower with a viewpoint, with a dome in the shape of a bell-shaped cap that resembles a mushroom —probably a fly agaric. On the façade facing the street there are some panels with the inscription Park Güell, as on the entrance wall. On the back and in a corner of the building, Gaudí installed an outdoor urinal topped by a trencadis cone. This building currently houses the Park Güell Interpretation Center, dependent on the Museum of History of Barcelona.
The administration pavilion has a height of 29 m and a plan of 12.60 × 6, 60m. It has two floors: on the lower floor there was a large square room that is now divided into two rooms, plus two other apsidal-shaped rooms; from here starts a curvilinear staircase in whose middle section are the toilets on the mezzanine; on the second floor there is a room equivalent to the lower one, flanked by two crenellated terraces, with a mushroom-shaped dome, like the previous building. The tower located on one side of this building stands out, hyperboloidal in shape and covered with trencadís in white and blue checkered pattern. It is crowned by the typical Gaudinian cross with four arms, which indicates the four cardinal points. Standing 12 feet tall, this cross was destroyed in 1936 and rebuilt after the Civil War. In 1952 it was restored due to some cracks, by the architect Adolf Florensa. This building also has medallions with the words Park Güell. It is currently used as a bookstore and souvenir shop.
The pavilions combine rustic stone with trencadís ceramics, as well as scrap pieces: in the dome of the gatehouse the veins of the mushroom are formed by coffee cups turned upside down. It is also noteworthy its completely organic shape and based on warped surfaces, without any right angles. Due to its formal and chromatic fantasy, it has been suggested that the pavilions evoke the story of Hänsel and Gretel, whose operatic version, by Engelbert Humperdinck, was performed at the Liceo theater in 1901 —the year the pavilions were built—, with a translation by Joan Maragall, a friend of Güell and Gaudí.
Stairway
From the entrance hall, a staircase leads to the Hipóstila room —intended as a market for the urbanization—, built between 1900 and 1903. Divided into two branches, it has 45 steps, in three sections of eleven steps and one of twelve, with a total length of 20m and a width of 8.1m. The walls that surround the stairway are elliptical in shape, with a maximum height of 5.8 m. They are made of ceramic, alternating with white convex plates and other concave of various colors, with a warped-shaped surface; these walls are topped by battlements, on a rustic stone cornice that contains hanging planters. Many of these ceramic pieces were designed by Pau Pujol, from the Pujol i Bausis factory. In its central area it houses three fountains with sculptural ensembles, which represent the Catalan Countries: Northern Catalonia (French) and Southern Catalonia (Spanish).
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The first fountain has a trapezoidal shape, with a naturalistic composition of false trunks, stalactites and vegetation through which the water falls into a small pool. Its shape seems to evoke a place called L'Argenteria, in the Collegats gorge in the course of the Noguera Pallaresa river. In this fountain, Gaudí placed a circle as a symbol of the world and a compass as a symbol of the architect.
The second fountain is in the shape of a medallion with a toric frame and contains the coat of arms of Catalonia and a serpent, as an allusion to medicine —or else in representation of the serpent Nejustán that Moses carried on his staff—, surrounded by fruits of eucalyptus. At the back is a work bench covered in white trencadis, semicircular in shape.
In the third fountain there is a dragon or salamander made of rasilla brick covered with trencadis of colours, 2.4 m in length. There are different versions of its meaning: it can represent the alchemical salamander, which symbolizes the element of fire; the mythological Python from the temple of Delphi; or the crocodile that appears on the coat of arms of the city of Nîmes, where Güell grew up. This figure has become the emblem of the garden and one of Barcelona's. A replica of this figure is in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid since 1969. On this figure there is a small tripod-shaped construction, alluding to the one used by the fortune teller of Delphi. In the center of this tripod there is a stone that could represent the onphalos, the "navel of the world" of the oracle of Delphi.
At the last flight of the stairs there is a bench in the shape of an odeon, placed in such a way that it receives sun during winter and shade during summer.
On one side of the stairs is the CEIP Baldiri Reixac school (the former home of Count Güell), while on the other is the Jardín de Austria, designed in the 1960s by Lluís Riudor i Carol. Its The name comes from a donation of trees made by the authorities of that country on the occasion of the Vienna in Barcelona exhibition, held in 1977. In 1981 a commemorative cedar called Raíces de hermandad was planted here (Wurzeln der Freundschaft), donated by the lieutenant governor of the province of Styria, Franz Wegart.
Hypostyle Hall
On the staircase is the «Hypostyle room» or Room of the hundred columns —also called the «Doric temple»—, of 1500 m², which serves as support to the upper plaza. 43 m in length, it is square in plan, except on the stair side, where it is cut into chamfers on the sides. Built between 1908 and 1909, this room was intended to function as a market for the residential neighborhood that Gaudí was creating, but this function was rejected after the failure of the project.
It is made up of 86 fluted columns, 6.16 m high and 1.20 m in diameter, made of mortar and rubble simulating marble, and covered with trencadis, up to a height of 1.80 m. The exterior columns are slightly inclined to achieve a better structural balance. They are of the Doric order, although with an octagonal abacus instead of a square one, and a circular but flattened equine. The ceiling is made with convex hemispherical vaults covered with white trencadís.
Originally, this room was supposed to house 90 columns, but Gaudí removed four of them and, in the free space left on the ceiling, placed four large circular ceiling lights as rosettes, 3 m in diameter, representing the four seasons of the year, with drawings of 20-pointed suns, of different colors. These are complemented by 14 smaller panels in the center of the vaults, one meter in diameter, which represent the lunar cycle, with drawings of eddies, helices and spirals. The panels were the work of Jujol, Gaudí's collaborator with the most creative fantasy, made in ceramic trencadís and waste materials.
The square
The central point of the park is an immense square —Plaza de la Naturaleza— with an oval shape of 2694 m² (86 m long by 43 m wide), built between 1907 and 1913. According to the original plan, the square The central part was to be a Greek theater, suitable for community meetings and for the celebration of cultural and religious events. On the outside it contains a cornice covered with gargoyles in the shape of a lion's head to drain the rain, as well as triglyphs and small figures. in the shape of a drop of water.
At the outer edge, which serves as a balcony to the steps and the entrance to the park, there is a wavy-shaped bench, 110 m long, covered with small pieces of ceramic and glass, the work of Josep Maria Jujol, with one of the architect's favorite techniques, the trencadís. At the other end, the square ends in a wall carved into the mountain, It has the effect of an amphitheatre, on top of which there is a palm-lined promenade closed off from the mountainous slope by a wall of palm-shaped columns. In this wall there were some natural caves that today are used as services.
The undulating bench is made up of a succession of concave and convex modules of 1.5 m, with an ergonomic design adapted to the human body. The base It is made of white trencadís and is crowned with a ceramic decoration reminiscent of Dadaist or Surrealist collages, with generally abstract motifs, but also some figurative element, such as signs of the zodiac, stars, flowers, fish or crabs.. Jujol also included roses and allegorical phrases in homage to the Virgin Mary, in Catalan and Latin, as well as crosses and the letter J for Jujol. The trencadís was built with waste materials, tiles, bottles and pieces of crockery. The colors blue, green and yellow predominate, which for Gaudí symbolized Faith, Hope and Charity.
This square is unpaved, because the water it collects from rainfall is drained and channeled through the columns that support it and is accumulated in a 1,200 m³ underground tank, to later be used to irrigate the park. If the deposit exceeds a certain limit, the excess water is expelled by the dragon that welcomes the park. There was also a spring, which, due to the failure of the development, Count Güell decided in 1913 to market the water under the SARVA brand (sar and va are two letters in Sanskrit, initials of Śiva and Viṣṇu, Hindu gods that mean the All).
Roads and viaducts
Gaudí built a series of viaducts to pass through the park, wide enough for the passage of carriages and with porticoed paths below for the passage of passers-by. The paths have a total length of three kilometres, which overcome the unevenness of the mountain (60 m) and optimally communicate the lower level with the upper level. There are also some small stone paths that connect these viaducts as shortcuts, sometimes with steps. Each road variant has a different width: 10 m for the main avenue, 5 m for the streets and from 1 to 3 m for the paths. Gaudí tried to integrate these viaducts into the mountain in the most natural way possible, so he did not make clearings, but instead adapted the roads to the topography and added retaining walls where necessary.
The viaducts are made of brick and covered with rustic stone, and have differentiated structural solutions, inspired by different architectural styles: the lower one (Museum viaduct or pont de Baix) in Gothic style, the The middle one (viaduct of the Algarrobo or pont del Mig) is Baroque and the upper one (viaduct of the Jardineras or pont de Dalt) is Romanesque. The lower one has two rows of inclined columns and in its upper part it houses benches and planters; the intermediate one has three rows of columns, the outer ones also inclined, and has as an anecdotal element the trunk of a carob tree that Gaudí decided to keep (it is cataloged as a tree of local interest in Barcelona); the upper one also has three rows of columns and houses on the road a succession of benches and pillars 2.81 m high topped with potsherds containing pitas.
The main road, called del Rosario because it has a row of stone balls in the form of rosary beads, goes from the entrance on the Carmelo highway to the one on Avenida del Santuario de San José de la Montaña, and through the central square. It is ten meters wide and was built on an old Roman road that led to San Cugat del Vallés, formerly known as the San Severo path. The rosary balls are spherical, 60 cm in diameter, there are 150 of them and originally they served to separate the path of carriages and passers-by. iron from the Mateu de Llinars del Vallès tower, a work whose authorship is in doubt between Gaudí and his assistant Francesc Berenguer, which was demolished in 1962.
Between the plaza of the Greek theater and the Larrard house is the so-called «Washerwoman portico», nicknamed for a caryatid-type column sculpted in the shape of a washerwoman, although other scholars see the shape of this column as an imitation of The Offering Bearer, a famous Egyptian statuette kept in the Louvre museum. This portico is in the form of a Romanesque cloister—possibly inspired by that of Elne Cathedral—supported by double columns, the Vertical exteriors, shaped like a palm tree, and inclined interiors to better support the weight. The conjunction of these inclined columns with the curved interior wall —inclination coming from the natural slope of the land— creates an effect like a sea wave. A second section of the portico is a spiral-shaped ramp, with helical columns. In total, this portico is 83 m in length. a famous phrase by Salvador Dalí.
Calvary
On a promontory in the upper part of the park, in a place formerly called turó de les Menes ("Hill of the Mines", for some iron mines that were in the place), at 182 m height, Gaudí planned to build a chapel, but due to the failure of the urbanization it was not finally carried out. This chapel would have had a diameter of 30 m, with a lobed shape, like a flower with six petals, similar to the crypt in Colonia Güell. When this project It was not carried out, Gaudí designed instead a monumental cross with the insignia of the Passion of Jesus: the cross would be crowned with a J with the crown of thorns and the inscription Hallelujah; The nails of the crucifixion would be placed on the crossbar —at the intersection— and the Greek letters alpha and omega (symbol of the beginning and the end) at the ends; and below would be found the instruments of torture of the Nazarene (Longinus' whip and spear) and the inscription Amen. From a sketch that Gaudí left, where he placed a person at the foot of the cross, it can be seen that this would have had a height of about 10 m and a width of about 4 m on the horizontal rail.
Finally, in the place where the chapel would have been located, Gaudí built a monument in the shape of a Calvary with three crosses. Inspired by the discovery of some prehistoric caves where fossil remains were found, Gaudí conceived the Calvary as a megalithic monument, in the style of the talayots of Balearic prehistory. The monument has a circular plan and two ramps of stairs, at the top of which are the three crosses and from where there is a magnificent panoramic view of Barcelona. There are two lower crosses (1.5m) and a higher one (1.7m), one of which ends in the shape of an arrow. The orientation of the crosses indicates the four cardinal points and the one that ends in an arrow points towards the sky, which gives rise to speculation about its meaning. The crosses were destroyed in 1936, at the start of the Civil War, and rebuilt in 1939. In 1995 the monument was restored.
The gardens around Calvario have a terraced structure with rockery elements. They were designed by Lluís Riudor i Carol.
The Gaudí House-Museum
In the park grounds, on the Rosario road, is the Gaudí House-Museum, the architect's place of residence from 1906 to 1925, a few months before his death, the date on which he began to reside in the workshop of the Holy Family. Here he lived with his father, Francesc Gaudí Serra —died in 1906 at the age of 93— and his niece, Rosa Egea Gaudí —died in 1912 at the age of 36—. Designed by his assistant Francesc Berenguer between 1904 and 1906, it was built as a show house for the urbanization, until it was acquired by Gaudí when the project was already failing. It is a three-story basement house, with two terraces and topped by a tall tower crowned by a cross and a weather vane, surrounded by a rustic garden enclosed by a low wall, where a pergola with parabolic arches covered with jasmine stands out. The decoration, where the ceramic elements and the sgraffito stand out, is in the modernist style and denotes the influence that his teacher exerted on Berenguer.
On the death of the architect it was put up for sale and the amount was allocated to the works of the Sagrada Família, according to the will left by Gaudí. It was acquired by the Italian couple Chiappo Arietti, until in 1963 it was bought by the Friends of Gaudí association with the aim of founding a museum dedicated to the architect from Reus. In 1992 this association donated its property to the Construction Board of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family.
The museum houses various pieces of Gaudí's furniture and personal objects, such as his bedroom and his oratory, as well as some paintings and sculptures, as well as information and audiovisual panels dedicated to the architect. In the lobby there is a bronze bust with the effigy of the architect made by Joan Matamala. Among the furniture there is original furniture from the Calvet house, the Batlló house and the crypt of Colonia Güell. Various objects are also on display in the garden, such as the four-armed cross on the portal of the Miralles estate, a copy of a sculpture of the Holy Family entitled Cosmos, a gargoyle in the shape of a lion's head the cornice of the park square or some bars from Casa Vicens and Casa Milà.
Image Gallery
View of Barcelona from Calvary
View of the undulating bench and ledge
Miranda del portico de la Lavandera
Lavender Sculpture
Viaducto de las Jardineras
Casa Trias, work of Juli Batllevell
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