Park Güell

Park Güell is a fairyland. Now a public park, but it has an interesting history. A count by the name of Eusebi Güell intended the land to be a housing development for the well-to-do folks who wanted to move away from the center of the city of Barcelona.  All well and good, but the needed stores and services were in Barcelona. It didn't appeal to people to move so far away (and uphill), so it failed as a housing area, but Güell continued his plan to turn it into a park/garden area for the public. Lucky for those of us who have had the pleasure of visiting!

This is the "model home" Güell had built, now a museum, which Gaudi and his family lived in for a few years, presumably while he was working on designing the park.

 Love these quirky columns

Our guide told us this is the only human figure in all of the art and architecture in the park. It is called La Bugadera (The Washerwoman), and was designed in honor of the women who washed the clothing of the many workers who constructed the park. Hmmm...
 

 Segment of iron gate on the park grounds

 

El Drac, the mosaic lizard, a famous symbol of the park. People were everywhere, so hard to get pictures without extraneous body parts included.

 

This beautiful wavy mosaic bench surrounds an open area of the park. 

More of the bench, and three self-takers. They were EVERYWHERE!! 

 

A favorite view

That's only a small sample of the fantasy and wonder of Park Güell. If you are interested in seeing great photos of more of what it has to offer, a Google search of images for the park will give you a real treat.