2. GÜELL PARKThe Güell Park is a big garden, with architectural elements. Located at
the top of Barcelona, it was designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi.
The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and opened as a public
park in 1926. The park is one of the greatest architectural works in
Southern Europe. The Dragon sculpture was attacked and turned back,
but the nose was damaged. Fortunately, it could be easily restored
because the damage was minor.
DRAGON SCULPTURE BENCH OF GÜELL PARK
3. HISTORY Eusebi Guell was who gave the park its name. This rich Catalan
businessman, was a member of an influential family of the
bourgeois city. He planned to construct a residential area near
the city that would attract the rich Catalan bourgeoisie. But
because of the World War, it couldn’t be finished and the area
was converted into a public park in 1922, when the City Hall
bought the land from Güell’s heirs. In 1984 UNESCO declared
the Park Güell a Word Heritage site.
5. The main idea was to build 60 parcels, but only 3 were
sold: the Trias family bought two and Gaudí one used as
a model, that can be visited now
There are 2 pavilions in the main entrance, one for
services and the one on the right was the residence of
the concierge, both pavilions have an oval floor plan .
In front of the entrance, there is a big double staircase
with symmetrical flights of stairs that leads to the Column
Room, formed by 86 classic columns. The stairs lead to
the Greek theatre bordered by a bench with wavy lines.
The flights of stairs are separated by small islands with
organic decorative elements: the first takes the form of
a cave, the second a reptile head projecting out of a
medallion with the Catalan flag and the third presents
the multicolored figure of a dragon.