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| Park Güell, from my sketchbook |
October 10, 2016
I was so excited! Today was the day I would
get to see Gaudí's masterpiece, Park Güell! In its time, it was actually a real
estate failure! Gaudí, and the property owner Eusebio Güell envisioned a neighborhood
for the well to do, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, with parks, in
a healthy setting with view of the sea.
There were to be about 60 lots, a complex network of paths and steps to
cope with the hilly terrain. Problem was, it was so far out of the city and the
excellent network of public transportation not yet there and restrictive
building codes that it ultimately failed. Not until they had built two entrance
pavilions, the main flight of steps, the shelter for horse-drawn carriages, viaducts
etc., and the great esplanade with its serpentine, tile-covered benches.
Ultimately only 2 of the 60 houses planned was ever
built, with Güell's being one of them. After his death in 1918, his heirs
offered the park to the City Council who opened it as a municipal park in 1926,
much valued by Barcelona's residents and tourists alike to this day. Recognized
as an artistic monument in 1969, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in
1984.
I was thrilled to be able to visit with Helena and together we
decided we would take a train to the site. Alejandro (Airbnb apartment owner)
had recommended taking a taxi, but we thought we could handle the Metro. Little
did we know that doing that would require taking a large number of escalators
and walking uphill the remainder of the way - not a very easy task and I was
happy to know I had enough stamina and leg strength to do it! One of the things
it did do for us, was to give us a very good idea as to why the project failed
in the first place and how far up and away from the central part of town it
really was! Needless to say, we hailed a taxi for the ride home!
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| The Laundry Portico |
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| One of the Porter's Pavilions at the Entrance |
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| One of two Pavilions that served as a residence for the Porter and a waiting room with telephone |
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| Curved wall with "trencadís - tile works that utilize broken tiles |
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| Detail of the Pavilions and more "trencadís" tile work |
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| Broken bits of stone make up the walkway around the Porter's Lodge |
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| The Dragon Stairway, Entrance Esplanade |
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