Parc de les Corts

Nicaragua, 139

This little park is a treat for people living nearby, an unbeatable neighbourhood garden.

A brick arcade near C/ Numància that recalls the industrial past of Les Corts and marks the start of a water canal that meanders from one end of the park to the other before reaching another, similar arcade in C/ Nicaragua, is the feature that determines the park’s layout and landscape.

Long, sloping, grass-covered parterres adapt to the canal’s curves on both sides. Here and there small, paved footbridges, bounded by laurustinus hedges, run from one side of the hills to the other.
The water that fills the canal comes from the overflow at the foot of the first of the arcades, which frames a large sphere made of four hoops that pays tribute to Euclidean geometry. Concrete slabs connect the two sides of the long strip of water.

History

The park occupies part of the land housing one of the most important brick-kilns in Les Corts, the Perelló, or Macians kiln. Roof- and floor-tile manufacturing thrived in Les Corts for many years, with the Perelló factory becoming one of the main ceramics suppliers, especially in the 1920s, for the numerous building projects in the city at that time. These included the complex of buildings created for the International Exposition of 1929, several blocks of cheap houses and the first two lines of the metro. The kiln was closed down a the end of the 1960s.

Biodiversity

Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and grey poplars (Populus x canadensis Moensch) are its most abundant species. There are also numerous holm oaks (Quercus ilex), Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis) and species with spectacular blossoms: tipu trees (Tipuana tipu), pink siris (Albizia julibrissin) and several magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora). Notable too are the Himalayan (Cedrus deodara) and Atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica) and the stone pines (Pinus pinea).

Art and Architecture

Euclidiana, a 1989 sculpture by Luis Gueilburt also known as Els quatre elements (The Four Elements), stands out in the canal, next to the brick arch near C/ Numància. It consists of a four stainless steel hoops with ceramic pieces supported by a vertical tube on a limestone plinth. The Greek mathematician and geometrist, Euclid, and his work Elements of Geometry provided the reference for this sculpture.

  • Phone number
    Tel.: 010
  • Titularity
    Public center
Address:
Nicaragua, 139
Districte:
Les Corts
Neighborhood:
les Corts
City:
Barcelona