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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.
Parque de Atracciones Tibidabo
Pl. del Tibidabo, 3-4. 08035 Barcelona
Teléfono: 932117942 |
