{"id":33410,"date":"2023-07-22T18:25:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T18:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.exp1.com\/blog\/?p=33410"},"modified":"2025-11-30T20:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T20:22:08","slug":"what-to-see-and-do-in-ciutadella-park-barcelonas-largest-urban-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.exp1.com\/blog\/what-to-see-and-do-in-ciutadella-park-barcelonas-largest-urban-park\/","title":{"rendered":"What To See and Do in Ciutadella Park, Barcelona\u2019s Largest Urban Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you happen to be in La Ribera passing a few hours at the Museu Picasso<\/a> or Museu Moco, you\u2019re no more than a seven-minute walk from one of the best places to grab a breath of fresh air in Barcelona. Make a few left turns, take a few right, walk forward until you reach Passeig de Picasso, and voil\u00e0 \u2014 you\u2019re at Ciutadella Park!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Ciutadella Park?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Named for the five-point citadel erected by Philip V of Spain in 1716, Ciutadella Park (pronounced syoo-da-de-ya) is a popular tourist attraction and local hangout in Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day and night, you\u2019ll find people jogging along the palm-tree lined promenade of the Arc de Triomf, friends chilling on benches or picnic blankets on the grass, children trying to pop the giant bubbles blown by street artists, and musicians playing their guitars. On early Saturday afternoons, you might even catch a group of salsa dancers practicing their moves to music blasting from a boombox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from giving visitors a slice of local life, Ciutadella Park (or Parc de la Ciutadella in Catalan) is home to attractions like the Barcelona Zoo, the Castell dels Dragons (Castle of Three Dragons), the Catalan Parliament, and the Cascada Monumental, which a young and unknown Gaud\u00ed played a part in bringing to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these sites are relics of the Barcelona Universal Exposition of 1888, an international fair that attracted more than 2 million people from around the world. The exposition even sped up the park\u2019s completion, a project that began in the early 1870s \u2014 though Gaud\u00ed\u2019s Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/a>, which has been under construction for over 130 years, proves that Barcelona sees beauty in unfinished projects, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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10 modernist buildings that aren\u2019t the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What I love about Ciutadella Park is that it has something for everyone. In this post, I\u2019ll cover everything to see and do in Barcelona\u2019s largest park, including the best way to navigate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Arc de Triomf<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Arc<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The main entrance to the park sounds a lot like a landmark you\u2019ll find in Paris<\/a>, but Barcelona\u2019s version is a red-brick archway that was designed by modernist architect Josep Vilaseca to welcome visitors from around the world to the 1888 Universal Exposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 100 feet tall, the arch is decorated with friezes depicting scenes like the city of Barcelona welcoming participants from other countries, an awards ceremony, and symbols of industry and the arts. Perhaps most symbolic are the emblems of all the Spanish provinces, with the one representing Barcelona in the center and slightly larger than the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arc<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Follow the promenade (but mind the joggers and people snapping pictures) from the Arc de Triomf to the Passeig de Pujades, a busy street separating the main entrance from the rest of the park. As you walk, be on the lookout for even more sights, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n