Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens is a botanical garden in the center of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. It is situated at the foot of Montjuïc facing the sea. The

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

owes its name to the renowned Mallorcan poet Miquel Costa i Llobera. Despite the gardens taking up around 6 hectares of the Montjuïc hillside, they are some of the least known and visited gardens in the city. The gardens display many plant and tree species from the desert, subdesert, tropical areas, and highlands. There is also huge collection of

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

(about 800 different types) originating in many different continents and countries. As well as the collection of species of cacti and succulent plants, the gardens have panoramic views over the city's coastline and port.

History

Contrary to many of the other gardens around Montjuïc, which were created for the International Exhibition in 1929, the gardens Mossèn Costa i Llobera were designed and developed much later, in 1970. The gardens were built under the guidance of the architect Joan Maria Casamor and Joan Pañella Bonastre, professor at the Escuela de Jardinería de Barcelona (Barcelona's Municipal Gardening School) and they were initially used as an outdoor classroom for botany students. 1987 the New York Times included the park in the list of the "10 most beautiful gardens on the planet". 1987 was not exactly a good year for this unique collection of botanical rarities though. In the winter of 1987, the gardens suffered a harsh frost, and had just recovered from the effects of another severe frost in the winter of 1985. The second frost in 1987 was fatal to many of the plants and its variety was reduced by almost 40%. A structural an aesthetic refurbishment was carried out between 2006 and 2011

Location

The Gardens Mossèn Costa i Llobera are located in the Barcelona’s district Sants-Montjuïc. The main entrance is located between Carretera de Miramar and Paseo de Josep Carner. This area enjoys a special

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

between two and three degrees above the average temperature of the city. The prime reason is its orientation that protects the area from cold winds. The gardens have views of the city's coastline and its commercial harbor. The gardens cannot be seen from the city even though it is just a ten-minute walk from the Columbus Monument, at the lower end of La Rambla.

Botany

A total of 800 different types of cacti and succulent plants populate the gardens. The plants originate from all over the world, but mostly from African, American, and Australian desert areas. Besides the gardens offer a wide variety of trees that are typical of the Mediterranean climates as well as other subtropical trees. One can find up to 12 different species of palm trees, olive and fig trees, and the like. Many of the subtropical trees are several hundred years old. Some special species the garden offers are: * Drago: a subtropical tree * Pitas: a typical Mexican plant * Xanthorrhoea: a native Australian plant * Cereus jamacaru: a Brazilian cactus *

Aloe brevifolia ''Aloe brevifolia'', the short-leaved aloe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. It is a tiny, compact, blue-green evergreen succulent perennial, that is native to the Western Cape, South Africa. Listed as Vulnerable on ...

: a cactus that originates in South Africa

Artistic elements

The Mossén Costa i Llobera gardens displays many decorative and artistic elements. Among them is a

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

and many

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Climate

Thanks to its convenient location at the food of the Montjuïc Mountain and next to the sea, temperatures in the middle of the gardens average two or three degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

higher than those in the rest of the area. This microclimate protects the species that are contained within the gardens. It is also protected from the intense winds that often affect the area.

Visiting the park

Access to the gardens is free of charge. The park has several entrances inside Montjuic. The main entrance is located between Carretera de Miramar and Paseo de Josep Carner. The parks opens at 10 a.m. until sunset.Barcelona pel medio ambient. Official Website. Barcelona's City Council
/ref>

References

External links

Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens - Barcelona City Council

Official tourist information site (authorized by Barcelona city hall)

* ttp://miquelcostaillobera.org/en Miquel Costa i Llobera's Biography (English)
Barcelona Travel Guide

Barcelona Yellow Pages

Photographs of the Mossén Costa i Llobera Gardens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossen Costa i Llobera Gardens Landscape architecture Parks in Barcelona Botanical gardens in Spain