Barcelona

Parc de la Creueta del Coll is the result of making the most of an area that, for many years, was used for a very different purpose. This is the old El Coll quarry, at the foot of the hills that shape the upper part of Barcelona. Such origins are what give it its character and strong personality.

A notable feature of the park, besides the acacias in the resting areas, or the pine grove and Mediterranean shrubs in the picnic area, is the presence of some palm trees on the small island sitting in the shallow bathing pool. The two-stemmed date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is well worth a look too, given its rarity.

Visitors entering the park through the main entrance on Passeig de la Mare de Déu del Coll, right next to C/ Castellterçol, are greeted by a tall, slim iron monolith. This is Tòtem, a work by Ellsworth Kelly.
One of the park’s most highly prized features is a colossal sculpture by Eduardo Chillida entitled Elogi de l’aigua (In Praise of Water). Made from concrete and weighing over 50 tonnes, it can be found at the back of the swimming pool, in a sheet of water in a much smaller and slightly raised area between the walls of the old quarry and a little concrete wall. It is held up by four steel cables anchored in the rock and suspended over the water, which gives this enormous sculpture a sensation of surprising lightness.