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in the mid-eighteenth century. This Bourbon symbol of authority survived
uneasily until 1869, when the military moved base. Many of the buildings were
subsequently demolished and the surrounding area made into a park, the
Parc
de la Ciutadella
(daily 8am–dusk). In 1888, the park was chosen as the site
of the
Universal Exhibition
and the city’s
modernista
architects, including the
young Gaudí, left their mark here in a series of eye-catching buildings and
monuments.
The Parc de la Ciutadella is still the biggest green space in the city centre,
home to a splendid fountain, large lake, plant houses, two museums and the city
zoo. It’s a very popular place for a stroll, and Sundays especially see couples and
families taking time out here, while a younger crowd assembles for a bit of
vigorous didgeridooing or bongo-work. The only surviving portion of the
citadel, the much-altered Arsenal in the southeastern reaches of the park, has
since 1980 housed Catalunya’s legislative assembly, the
Parlament
(no public
access – see p.271, for more on the institution). Near the park, within short
walking distance, are a couple of other attractions, including one of the city’s
most peculiar museums, devoted to funeral carriages.
The park’s
main gates
are on Passeig de Picasso (
o
Barceloneta, or a short
walk from La Ribera), and there’s also an entrance on Passeig de Pujades (
o
Arc
de Triomf); only use
o
Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica if you’re going directly to the
zoo, as there’s no access to the park itself from that side.The whole Ciutadella
area is shown on colour map 6 at the back of the book.
Inside the park
The first of the major projects undertaken inside the park was the
Cascada
,
the monumental fountain in the northeast corner. It was designed by Josep
Fontseré i Mestrès, the architect chosen to oversee the conversion of the
former citadel grounds into a park, and his assistant in the work was the young
Antoni Gaudí, then a student. The Baroque extravagance of the Cascada is
suggestive of the flamboyant decoration that was later to become Gaudí’s
trademark.The best place to contemplate the fountain’s tiers and swirls is from
the small
open-air café
just to the south. Here you’ll also find a lake, where
for a few euros you can
rent a rowboat
and paddle about among the ducks.
Incidentally, Gaudí is also thought to have had a hand in the design of the
Ciutadella’s iron park gates.
Just inside the northern entrance to the park, architect Lluís Domènech i
Montaner designed a castle-like building intended for use as the exhibition’s
café-restaurant. Dubbed the
Castell dels Tres Dragons
, it became a centre for
modernista
arts and crafts, and many of Domènech’s contemporaries spent time
here experimenting with new materials and refining their techniques. It’s now
used by the zoological section of the city’s Natural Science Museum, but it’s fair
to say that the decorated red-brick exterior of the
Museu de Zoologia
(Tues–Sun 10am–2.30pm, Thurs & Sat until 6.30pm; combined ticket with
Geology Museum €3.70, first Sun of month free, separate charge for special
exhibitions;
T
933 196 912,
W
www.bcn.es/museuciencies) knocks spots off the
rather dry displays of stuffed birds, insects and animals. However, temporary
popular-science exhibitions tend to be of more interest, while you can liven up
a visit for under-12s by asking for the free educational activities kit.The sister
museum is the nearby
Museu de Geologia
(same hours, price and website as
Museu de Zoologia,
T
933 196 895), which opened in 1882 and was actually
the first public museum in the city. Based on the geological bequest of Francesc
Martorell i Peña, who gave his name to the original museum, it’s another
restored period piece, with nineteenth-century cases of exhibits housed in a
SANT PERE, LA RIBERA AND CIUTADELLA
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Parc de la Ciutadella and around