Park Güell

Carrer d'Olot, 7

There is nothing in the world like Park Güell, one of Antoni Gaudí's most emblematic works.

Far more than a park, this is a symbol of Barcelona. There is nothing in the world like Park Güell, one of Antoni Gaudí’s most emblematic works, as it was conceived as a monumental site where the natural surroundings are inseparable from its architectural features.

Its uniqueness received official recognition in 1969, when it was declared a historical and artistic monument of national interest and, above all, in 1984, when it was declared a Heritage of Humanity site by UNESCO.

The fact it is an internationally recognised monumental space makes it no less important as a public park, equipped as it is with all the facilities and services that make it an ideal recreation space, for local residents and all its visitors in general.

Since the completion of the comprehensive remodelling work carried out on it in 2006, the park has offered a guide service that helps people with hearing or visual impairment to discover it.

History

It was officially opened as a public park in 1922, but Gaudí had originally conceived it as a garden city when commissioned by the aristocrat Eusebi Güell, who had purchased an extensive rural estate in 1895 located on Carmel hill, with the intention of building a garden city like the ones he had discovered in England. Gaudí’s project basically consisted of building large houses with spaces for public use, such as a large covered square intended as the market, an open-air theatre square, a chapel, a porter’s lodge, a service pavilion with a reception and public telephone, and other communal services. Factories, industry, workshops and clinics were expressly excluded as they undermined the principle of the project, a return to nature.

It was not a success and was interrupted in 1914, by which time some of the communal facilities had already been built. In 1922, six years after Eusebi Güell’s death, Barcelona City Council bought the estate to turn it into a public park.

Biodiversity

Even if nature seems to have taken second place, one thing is certain: the architect had it very much in mind to achieve a perfect symbiosis between stone and green. There are two separate areas in Park Güell: the Gaudí area, which preserved the natural vegetation, today made up by an expanse of woodland that is home to abundant carob trees, oaks, pine trees and holm oaks, surrounded by a thick understorey, and the monumental area, the best known these days.

Here you will find the Jardí d’Àustria, an old nursery where species were cultivated that would later be transferred to the park. For many years these included species from elsewhere, making it anything but a Mediterranean garden. These last few years have seen more appropriate plants being introduced, such as olive trees, pine trees, oak trees, broom, laurustinus, magnolias and aromatic plants.

Art and Architecture

Park Güell has numerous emblematic spaces of considerable architectural value. The main entrance on Carrer d’Olot is watched over by two pavilions built in Gaudí’s typical style, with rounded forms and a burst of light and colour. On the right stands Casa del Guarda, conceived and designed by Gaudí as the Park Güell porter’s lodge.

The monumental Dragon stairway, dominated by the trencadís-coated salamander, starts here, underscoring the importance of the entrance for pedestrians going to the garden city’s communal facilities, the market and the square. The stairway leads to the Hypostyle Hall, which was intended to include the garden city’s market and has 86 Doric columns.

Plaça de la Natura, the square at the centre of this monumental area, begins on firm ground by the hillside and extends over the hall’s columns. The square’s outstanding feature is the perimeter bench that undulates round it like a 150-metre-long snake. This bench is also covered in trencadís, made from little ceramic and glass pieces, and designed by Josep Maria Jujol, one of Gaudí’s collaborators. Standing next to the square there is an old, stately, country house, which has been a school since 1931.

Landscaping and Design

It is very clear that an architect had a hand in the park’s design and Gaudí’s peculiar style can be seen in any of its features, no matter how small. There are no straight angles anywhere: the columns are inclined like palm trees in varied shapes, suggesting tree trunks, stalactites and natural coves, and wavy forms, resembling rivers of lava.

Many of the surfaces are covered in trencadís , pieces of ceramic or glass put together like colourful mosaics.

The park’s central point is Plaça de la Natura. The square is partly supported by the Sala de les Cent Columnes (Hall of a Hundred Columns) which actually consists of eighty-six columns that look like giant stalagmites in a cove.

This extends to the stairway at the park’s main entrance, whose steps are symmetrically laid out around the sculpture of a salamander, which has come to symbolise the garden. It represents the alchemical salamander, symbolising the element of fire.

Leaving the monumental area and heading for the exit on Carretera del Carmel, you will cross the first of three viaducts, designed by Gaudí, on the network of paths connecting the various parts of the park.

  • Phone number
    Tel.: 010
    de dilluns a diumenges de 9 h a 21 h: 934091831
  • E-mail
    gaudirmesbcn@bsmsa.cat
    parkguell@bsmsa.cat
  • Accessibility
    Accessible for people with physical disabilities
  • Titularity
    Public center
Address:
Carrer d'Olot, 7
Districte:
Gràcia
Neighborhood:
la Salut
City:
Barcelona

Timetable

Observations

Venda d’entrades exclusivament en línia


Les reserves són per franja horària natural i es pot entrar al Park fins a 30 minuts després de l'hora d'inici de la franja assignada. No es permetrà l'accés un cop superada la franja horària i no es tindrà dret a la devolució de l'import de l´entrada.

Les persones que s'inscriguin a Gaudir+BCN poden tenir una entrada diaria per visitar el Park Güell. Aquesta inscripció és gratuïta i es pot demanar presencialment, amb cita prèvia, a les Oficines d’Atenció Ciutadanes, trucant al 010 o a través de l’Oficina Virtual de Tràmits

Per arribar de la manera més còmoda i pràctica al Park Güell es recomanen diferents accessos: el de Carretera del Carmel, 23 (on també hi ha l'aparcament per a autocars), el del carrer de Larrard (entrada per lateral carrer Olot) i els de l'Avinguda del Santuari de Sant Josep de la Muntanya i Baixada de la Glòria, als quals s'hi accedeix per escales mecàniques. No es recomana arribar al Park Güell amb vehicle privat, la major part de l'estacionament al voltant del parc és àrea verda exclusiva per residents. Els visitants que arribin en vehicle privat tenen a la seva disposició l’aparcament BSM Travessera de Dalt – Park Güell.  Es recomana reserva prèvia.

Esdeveniments