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 Horta-Guinardó () is the name of one of the districts of Barcelona, located in its North-Eastern corner. It is named after two very heterogeneous areas of the city, Horta and el Guinardó, which together cover a large area of 11.92 km², ...

district in

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 ...

and the oldest of its kind in the city. Located on the former estate of the Desvalls family, next to the

Collserola The Serra de Collserola (), or simply Collserola, is a mountain range between the rivers Besòs and Llobregat. It is part of the Catalan Coastal Range. These mountains separate Barcelona from the Vallès plain and their tallest peak is the Tib ...

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 Elies Rogent i Amat (Barcelona 18 July 1821 – Barcelona 21 February 1897), was a Catalan architect of Spanish nationality. Life and work He studied at the school of Architecture in Madrid, from which he graduated on 20 February 1851. Elies Ro ...

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 political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. 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, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

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

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

, 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), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is 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 A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

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 that gives the park its name, made up of 750 metres of trimmed cypress trees. At the entrance of the labyrinth, there is a marble

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

depicting

Ariadne Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for havi ...

and

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

and in the centre, a statue of the god

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

. * 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 Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...

s without

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

. Next to the great staircase that leads to the third level, there is a bust of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

, 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 mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

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 Joan Maragall i Gorina (; 10 October 1860 in Barcelona – 20 December 1911) was a Spanish poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the ''modernisme'' movement in literature. His manuscripts are preserved in the 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'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις, ''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'', as ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, translated by Maragall and directed by

Adrià Gual Adrià Gual i Queralt (; Barcelona, 1872–1943) was a Catalonia, Catalan playwright and theatre businessman, founder of the Escola Catalana d'Art Dramàtic and a pioneer of Film, cinema in Barcelona. He founded El Teatre Íntim (The Intimate T ...

. *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), '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer ...

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

External links

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

References