Thursday’s Special

Winding: a twisting movement or course

synonyms: twist, turn, turning, bend, loop, curve, zigzag, convolution, meander, meandering, looping, serpentine, sinuous, snaking, snaky

Looking down on Nature Square and the undulating bench

Welcome to Park Güell, one of the major works of Gaudí in Barcelona. Access to the Monumental Zone of Park Güell is limited to 400 tickets every half hour. Which seems an awful lot of people on such a short time frame as you are not obliged to exit within half an hour and most likely explains why it is so busy! To avoid having to wait for several hours to enter the Monumental Zone it is best to purchase your timed tickets beforehand.

The Porter’s Lodge – Casa del Guarda
Snake’s head fountain
Decorative window
Decorative window
Mosaics on the bench

Eusebi Güell entrusted to Gaudí the plan to create an estate for well off families in a large property that Güell had purchased in the zone known as ‘bare mountain’, a location with magnificent views over the plain and the ocean.

Monumental Flight of Steps. Framed by two convex walls with merlons (crenellated parapet).
Dragon or Salamander
Dragon’s claw
Brightly coloured tile-shard mosaics

Only one sixth of the plot could be built on for residential use only. And in the beginning work progressed well, but the difficulty of transport to the plot made it nonviable and in 1914 Güell decided to stop the project.

Merlons
Parc Guell
Another decorative window
Trencardis decorative system for the roof
The undulating roof at the top of the Hypostyle Room

Upon the death of Güell the estate was offered to the Barcelona City Council who opened it as a public park in 1926. The UNESCO declared it a Cultural Heritage of Humanity site in 1984.

Hypostyle Room – the ceiling is formed of small domes in the Catalan vault technique. It was conceived as a covered space that could serve as a market for the estate.
Decorative window
Trencardis (tile-shard mosaic) roof of the now bookshop
Undulating bench
Portico of the Washerwoman

I think you might agree with me that this site definitely complies with pretty much all the meanings of winding.

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

25 thoughts on “Thursday’s Special”

  1. So this was supposed to be a private luxury estate? Quite an ambitious feat. I’m glad it’s open to the public instead. Thanks for the tour, Jude.

  3. This definitely meets more than the meaning of winding Jude! My middle boy visited Barcelona when he took A level geography some years ago, and has been telling me ever since that I really need to go just to see the wonderful architecture, and your beautiful photos confirm that and some! Truly wonderful…and I love the undulating bench, I always think of you whenever I see a bench while out and about 🙂

    1. It seems I still can’t avoid a bench! Though this one is very special. As for Barca – yes it is definitely worth visiting. I am not a city person, but loved it!

  5. oh my, I’ve slipped further behind than I thought!

    Your trip to Barcelona has uncovered so many treasures and this is another one. It looks like an over-sized confection. Beautiful!

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