Tibidabo: The Magic Mountain

The mountain of Tibidabo (512 metres in altitude) is the highest point of the Collserola hills, rising between the passes of Vallvidrera and Serola, and it hosts an amusement park which has recently been recovered by the Barcelona City Council. Everyone in the city remembers its fantastic grottoes, the dizzying experience of the Talaia, the Hall of Mirrors with its grotesque reflections, the excitement of the Aeromàgic, the fascination of the old fair of automatons ... sensations which can now be rediscovered by young and old since 15 April, when the park reopened its gates to the public. Barcelona has recovered its emblematic amusement park, the first in Spain and the second oldest in Europe.

The origins of the amusement park

The origins of the Tibidabo amusement park date back to 1899, when the pharmaceutical pioneer Salvador Andreu founded the Tibidabo Company, one of whose aims was to create a recreational area on the hilltop for the enjoyment of the people of the city.

The Blue Tram, the Funicular and the attractions

The Blue Tram and the Funicular were inaugurated on 29 October 1901, and shortly afterwards the first attractions were installed on Tibidabo. The park still conserves some of the most significant ones that have filled it during its hundred years of existence: for example, the Castle of Terror and the Big Dipper (roller coaster). Or one of its most unusual items: the aeroplane, which dates from 1928 and is a replica of the model that made the first flight between Barcelona and Madrid.

The Fabra Observatory and the Experimental Physics Museum

Other attractions of the mountain are two buildings erected between 1901 and 1905: in 1901 Camil Fabra, the Marquis of Alella, built the astronomical observatory which bears his name, designed by Josep Domènech i Estapà. Nearby, in 1905, Ferran Alsina built a museum of experimental physics named La Mentora, which, due to the great interest of its collection of scientific apparatus of the time, has been conserved to the present day. In 1908 the slopes of the mountain were converted into a municipal park.

The Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart

In 1886 Giovanni Bosco, the founder of the Salesians, was offered a piece of land at the top of the mountain to raise a temple dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Firstly a small oratorium was built, and it is still conserved. In 1902 the construction of the great expiatory temple was commenced: it is a monumental building designed in neo-Gothic style by Enric Sagnier, and is crowned by a bronze statue of the Sacred Heart. The construction of the temple was completed in 1961. An elevator takes visitors up to the top of the temple, 575 metres above sea level, where they are met with a breathtaking view of the city.