Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE GARDENS OF MONTJUÏC
Botanical gardens aside, there are plenty of places on Montjuïc where you can roll out a
picnic rug or let the children scamper around safely.
Signposted off Avinguda de Miramar, west of (and below) the Fundació Joan Miró, the
terraces, clipped hedges and grottoes of the
Jardins Laribal
(daily 10am-dusk; free) date
from 1918. They surround the spring of
Font del Gat
, which has been a picnic site since
the nineteenth century. Josep Puig i Cadafalch built a restaurant here of the same name for
the 1929 International Exhibition, and it's open now for lunch (1-3.45pm; closed Mon),
with wonderful views from its terrace.
East of here, the Montjuïc cable-car passes over the
Jardins de Mossèn Jacint Verd-
aguer
and adjacent
Jardins Joan Brossa
(both daily 10am-dusk; free), which tack up the
hillsidetothecastle.Walkingdownthroughthegardensfromthecastleisapleasantwayto
return to the lower slopes ofMontjuïc, through what used to be the site ofthe old Montjuïc
amusement park, though it's now fully landscaped, with children's play areas - halfway,
there are sweeping city views from the
Mirador de l'Alcalde
.
Outside the upper cross-harbour cable-car station, are the formal
Jardins de Miramar
(always open; free), plus more fine views from the cable-car station café-
terrassa
. Steps
lead down from a point close to the cable-car station into the precipitous cactus gardens
of the
Jardins de Mossèn Costa i Llobera
(daily 10am-dusk; free), which look out over
the port. The flourishing stands of Central and South American, Indian and African cacti,
someover6mhigh,makeadramaticsceneexperiencedbyfewvisitorstoMontjuïc,though
the people lounging on the steps and in the shade of the bigger specimens suggest it's
something of an open secret among the locals.
Museu de Carrosses Fúnebres
C/Mare de Déu de Port 56-58 • Wed-Sun 10am-2pm • Free • 934 841 999,
cbsa.cat/colleccio
• Bus #21
from Paral.lel
One of the city's more esoteric attractions - the
Museu de Carrosses Fúnebres
(Funerary
Carriage Museum) -is fittingly located at the entrance ofthe Montjuïc Cemetery.The horse-
drawn carriages on display were used for city funeral processions from the 1830s until the
service was mechanized in the 1950s, when the silver Buick (also on display) came into use.
Most of the carriages and hearses are extravagantly decorated in gilt, black or white, and
some,suchastheGrandDoumontandtheStove,carrieddignitaries,politiciansandbig-name
bullfighters to their final resting places. There are also plenty of old photographs of them in
