Page 307 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

BARCEL ONA  305

The most remarkable are the
wall paintings from the churches
of Santa Maria de Taüll and Sant
Climent de Taüll in Vall de Boí.
The museum’s superb Gothic
collection covers the whole of
Spain, but is particularly good
on Catalonia. Several out-
standing works by El Greco,
Velázquez, and Zurbarán are on
display in the Renaissance and
Baroque section.
w Park Güell
Carrer d’Olot. Tel 902-200 302.
q Lesseps. Open daily. & 8 7
Casa-Museu Gaudí: Tel 93-219 38 11.
Open daily. Closed Jan 1 & 6, Dec 25
& 26 (am). &
Designated a World Heritage
site by UNESCO, the Park Güell is
Gaudí’s most colorful creation.
He was commissioned in the
1890s by Count Eusebi Güell
to design a garden city on 20
hectares (50 acres) of family
estate. Little of Gaudí’s grand
plan for decorative buildings
among landscaped gardens
became reality. What we see
today was completed between
1910 and 1914. Mosaic-encrusted chimney by Gaudí at the entrance of Park Güell
Most atmospheric is the
Room of a Hundred Columns, an open space with a snaking and a funicular railway. The
a cavernous covered hall of balcony of colored mosaics, name, inspired by Tibidabo’s
84 crooked pillars, which is said to have the longest bench views of the city, comes from
brightened by glass and in the world. It was executed the Latin tibi dabo (I shall give
ceramic mosaics. Above it, by Josep Jujol, one of Gaudí’s you) – a reference to the
reached by a flight of steps chief collaborators. Temptation of Christ, who was
flanked by ceramic animals, The two mosaic-decorated taken up a mountain by Satan
is the Gran Plaça Circular – pavilions at the entrance are by and offered the world.
Gaudí, but the Casa-Museu The popular amusement park
Gaudí, a small pink villa where at Parc d’Atraccions first opened
he lived from 1906–26, was built in 1908. The rides were
by Francesc Berenguer. The completely renovated in the
drawings and furniture inside 1980s. While the old ones retain
are all by Gaudí. their charm, the newer ones
provide the latest in vertiginous
experiences. Their hilltop
e Tibidabo location at 517 m (1,696 ft) adds
to the thrill. Also in the park is
Plaça del Tibidabo 3–4. Tel 93-211 79
42. q Av Tibidabo, then Tramvia Blau the Museu dels Autòmats,
& funicular, or TibiBus from Plaça which displays automated toys,
Catalunya. Amusement Park: Open jukeboxes, and gaming machines.
call to check. Closed Oct–Apr: Tibidabo is crowned by the
Mon–Fri. 7 Temple del Sagrat Cor: Temple Expiatori del Sagrat
Tel 93-417 56 86. Open daily. Cor (Church of the Sacred
∑ tibidabo.cat Heart), built with religious zeal
but little taste by Enric Sagnier
The heights of Tibidabo are between 1902 and 1911. Inside,
An ornate merry-go-round at the Parc reached by Barcelona’s last an elevator takes you up to an
d’Atraccions, Tibidabo surviving tram, the Tramvia Blau, enormous statue of Christ.

304-305_EW_Europe.indd 305 14/07/16 10:15 am