The Parc del Laberint d'Horta (, "Park of the Labyrinth of Horta", sometimes referred to as Jardins (Gardens) del Laberint d'Horta) is a historical garden in the Horta-Guinardó district in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

and the oldest of its kind in the city. Located on the former estate of the Desvalls family, next to the Collserola ridge, the park comprises an 18th-century neoclassical garden and a 19th-century romantic garden. On the lower terrace is the hedge maze that gives the park its name.

History

Works began in 1791 when marquis Joan Antoni Desvalls i d'Ardena, owner of the lot, created the design of a neoclassical garden in collaboration with Italian architect Domenico Bagutti. Execution was made under direction of master builders Jaume and Andreu Valls as well as French gardener Joseph Delvalet. In mid-19th century, the descendants of the marquis hired architect Elies Rogent to expand the park. Rogent created then a romantic garden with flower beds, gazebos, huge trees and a waterfall. A water canal was also added to the garden, connecting the upper terrace and the intermediate one. In 1880 a domestic garden was created beside the Desvalls palace. At the end of the 19th century, the Desvalls estate became the venue of social and cultural events including open-air theatre performances. In 1967 the Desvalls family handed over the park to the city of Barcelona, who opened to the public in 1971. Ample restoration works were carried out in 1994 with the financial support of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The park is currently a garden-museum with a number of visitors limited to no more than 750 people at the same time, in order to preserve the delicate environment and structures of the area. The old Desvalls' Palace hosts, since 1993, ''Centre de Formació del Laberint'' (a city-owned institute of Gardening education) as well as a specialized library.

Elements of the park

Right next to the entrance of the park stands the former palace of the Desvalls family, a building with neoarabic and

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

elements. The ''Torre Sobirana'', an ancient medieval

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

, is also part of this complex. The park, which extends over a surface of 9.1

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

, is divided into two parts: the neoclassical garden and the romantic garden. All around the park there are numerous sculptures, some depicting motives of

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

and others with folk motives, as well as a number of fountains, springs, and pools. The neoclassical garden comprises three terraces: * On the lower terrace is the hedge

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...

that gives the park its name, made up of 750 metres of trimmed

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...

trees. At the entrance of the labyrinth, there is a marble

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

depicting

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

and

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

and in the centre, a statue of the god

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

. * On the intermediate terrace, right over the maze, there are two Italian-style pavilions with Tuscan columns and statues of Danae and Ariadne, replicas of round

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...

s without cella. Next to the great staircase that leads to the third level, there is a bust of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, the god of wine and exuberance. * On the third and uppermost terrace there is a pavilion dedicated to the nine

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

s, crowned by a sculpture depicting art and nature, on the foot of which can be read: ''Artis Naturaque Parit Concordia Pulchrum'' (Latin for "The harmony of art and nature generates beauty") and on the other side: ''Ars Concors Foetum Naturae Matris Alumbrat'' ("Harmonic art gives light onto the fruit of Mother Nature"). There is a big pond behind the pavilion with water coming from a natural source. The romantic garden is distributed in a series of flower beds and small squares under the shade of huge trees. On the northernmost border of this side of the park, there's a waterfall. There aren't many traces left of the original design, but it seems that the romantic garden was built alluding to the theme of death - there even used to be a replica of a small graveyard, long gone - while the neoclassical garden revolves around the theme of love. The park gardens are surrounded by a large area of Mediterranean forest.

Miscellaneous

*The gardens hosted receptions to the sovereigns of Spain on three occasions. *The pavilions of the intermediate terrace were chosen by poet Joan Maragall to represent classic plays. CIRICI A. ''Barcelona pam a pam''. Barcelona 1971 (7th ed. 1985) Ed. Teide On 10 October 1898 was played the tragedy

Iphigenia in Tauris ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' (, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, ''Helen (play), Helen'', as well as the lost play ''Andromed ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, translated by Maragall and directed by Adrià Gual. *The parc was used to shoot a scene of the motion picture Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by German director

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The Sto ...

. *The parc was used to shoot the Music Video "Laberinto en 5 y 4" by a Japanese Violinist TSUMUZI

Image gallery

File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 7.jpg, Desvalls Palace File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 6.jpg, Danae Pavilion File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 5.jpg, The two pavilions File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 3.jpg, Dionysus bust File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 4.jpg, Neoclassical pavilion File:Nimfa Egèria al Parc del Laberint d'Horta.jpg, Egeria's fountain File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 10.jpg, The canal File:Parc del Laberint d'Horta Barcelona 8.jpg, The romantic garden waterfall File:Eros en el Laberint in Parc del Laberint d'Horta.jpg, Eros en el Laberint sculpture File:Hedge maze in Parc del Laberint d'Horta.jpg, Hedge maze

External links

Parcs i jardins de Barcelona - Parc del Laberint
(Official site)

References