Famous Destinations and Attractions

Parc Guell is popular park started out as a development project. Eusebi Guëll, a well known Catalan industrialist, acquired a 17ha / 42acre large hilly plot in the Gràcia district, north of Barcelona in Spain. He wanted to turn the area into a residential garden village based on English models. Sixty Housing units as well as several public buildings were planned.

In 1900, Guëll commissioned his friend and protégé Antoni Gaudí with the development of the project. With the support from other architects including Josep M. Jujol and his disciple Francesc Berenguer, Gaudí worked on the garden village until 1914 when it was clear the project was a commercial failure: Guëll failed to sell a single house. In 1918 the city acquired the property and in 1922 it was opened to the public as a park. You'll find as well in Barcelona the famous Sagrada Familia, not only well known in all Spain but in the whole world.

The pavilions, designed by Gaudí, seem to be taken out of Hansel and Gretel, with curved roofs covered with brightly colored tiles and ornamented spires. The staircase at the entrance of the park is also designed by Gaudí.

Between 1906 and 1926, Gaudí lived in one of the two houses that were completed. The house, known as the Casa Museu Gaudí, was designed by Francesc Berenguer. It serves as a museum and displays some of Gaudí’s furniture (including some from the Casa Batlló) and drawings. The park also includes the Casa Trias (not open for visitors) and winding roads with paths supported by tree-like columns.

UNESCO listed The Parc Guell as a world heritage site in 1984.