Guide to Barcelona

The Ciudadela park

Friday, 02 October 2009 10:01

In and Around Barcelona

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The origins of the Ciudadela park are going back to 1714 when Barcelona was occupied by the Duke of Popolí and a big fort was built in the Ciudadela neighbourhood in order to control the city of Barcelona and its citizens.

With the years, the city of Barcelona were able to recover part of its independency and in 1848 the city nobles has decided to destroy the fort and to develop this part of the city. The terrain was given to the city hall council by order of the noble Catalan persons in Madrid, especially thanks to the general Juan Prim, which ordered the donation of the lands with the condition that it will serve to the benefit of the citizens converting it into gardens. The city hall of Barcelona took charge of the costs of demolition and compensation for the home owners in this area.

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A new urban plan was made with the permission to build also private buildings, commercial and residential.It was only after 1871 that the character of the park was decided, after preparing many planning projects. There were many ideas as for it’s design, some spoke about converting it into an industrial and artistic exposition palaces in stead of a park.

Finally the park idea was imposed, especially because it was originally meant to benefit the vast society of Barcelona, and the city needed for a place where people can meet, walk, talk and passing the time walking in the nature.

Today the park is like open museum, thanks to the quantity and quality of the sculptures that are situated in it. In 1908, it was francesc Mathue who proposed to place busts in honour of all those personalities who contributed to the Catalan culture, such as María Aguiló, Balaguer I Fontana among others.

More information about the Ciudadela park

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