A visit to the Palau de les Heures Gardens
16/05/2007 at 18:07 h.
Text: Maria Rosa Salvadó
Photos: Dani García
Up in the Montbau neighbourhood, at the foot of the Collserola hills, stands one of the most singular buildings in Barcelona: the Palau de les Heures, built in the late 19th century. It overlooks gardens whose merit lies both in their beauty and in the richness of the vegetation, including an outstanding collection of trees.
The venerable gate to the space is an exquisite prelude to what awaits the visitor on the other side. Made of cast iron, its design delicately evokes the plant species from which the house and gardens derive their name: heura, or ivy.
Perspectives
If the house, the Palau de les Heures - with its four round towers crowned by conical points, in the style of French châteaux - is impressive, the view of the gardens from the terrace at the front of the building is frankly majestic.
The whole is of a great harmony, with broad stairs on either side of the 'palace' running down the hillside to successive sections of the gardens. Long ramps between the flights of stairs facilitate access for people with disabilities.
Boston ivy and rose bushes climbing the walls of the terraces adorn the paths, punctuated here and there with large terracotta pots blooming with fragrant geranium with its small, delicate flower.
From the bottom of the gardens, the view is perhaps even more striking than from above: the manor house looms high over the spectacularly landscaped terraces, elegant and inviting.
The terraces
The south-facing gardens are laid out on terraces, the highest of which is occupied by the house and a smaller garden. The middle and the lowest - which is the largest - are both of greater note in terms of landscaping.
Both are laid out geometrically, with parterres, paths and pools in contrast to the vertical counterpoint of towering palms and the leafiness of, among other trees, large magnolias and enormous horse chestnuts.
All around there are benches for sitting in the shade of the trees or in the sun, especially on the top terrace.
The vegetation
Due to their height, what stand out most in the gardens are the palm trees, especially the Washingtonia robusta with its broad fan-shaped leaves, and the Canary Island palm, topped with majestic crowns. On their own, these palms give the gardens a distinctive character.
Other noble members of the tree family include magnolias, with their spectacular summer flowers, large acacias, bitter orange, olive trees, towering cedars, pines, holm oak and cypresses.
Small round parterres boast roses, while the larger ones - eight in both the lower terraces - contain big trees and palms surrounded by exquisitely trimmed and sculpted hedges.
Did you know....
The space occupied today by the Palau de les Heures and its gardens has a long history. One of the first mentions of the place has to do with a crime of passion which seems to have taken place in 1875 at a spring on the estate, then known as Can Duran and covering some 30 hectares.
In 1893, the estate was bought by Josep Gallart Forgas, a businessman who had made his fortune in Puerto Rico. Gallart commissioned the architect August Font i Carreras to design the house and gardens. The works finished in 1895.
The Gallart family lived at Les Heures until the Civil War, when the estate was expropriated as a residence for President Manuel Azaña, who never used it. Subsequently, it was occupied by the Catalan president Lluís Companys, as a refuge from the bombing attacks on Barcelona, since it made a difficult target from the air. Nonetheless, an underground shelter was built.
In fact, Josep Gallart Forgas' son, Josep Gallart Folch, gave an aerial photo of the estate to General Kindelan to facilitate the bombing, but the latter desisted due to the terrain.
In 1958, the Barcelona Provincial Government (Diputació) bought a part of the estate and added it to the Llars Mundet residential centre. In 1998, an agreement between the Barcelona City Council and the Diputació ceded the use of the Jardí del Palau de les Heures to the city. As for the house, it is now occupied by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation, which uses it for educational purposes.
GENERAL INFORMATION
District: Horta-Guinardó.
Size: 350 hectares
Location: Campus de la Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona University)
Category: historic garden.
Architect: August Font i Carreras (1893).
Restoration: Works and Projects Department of the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Parks and Gardens.
Opened to the public: 1999.
Opening times: April to 30 September, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; 1 October to 30 March, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Prohibitions: no dogs, no ball playing, no bicycles allowed.
Entrances: Campus de la Vall d'Hebron, Camí de Sant Cebrià.
Accessibility: there is a wide path around the gardens from which the terraces are accessible for disabled people.
Transport: Bus 27, 60, 73, 76, 85, 173; Metro: L3 Montbau. The gardens are quite a way up the hill from Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron (where public transport stops); we thus recommend that visitors take the free bus around the university grounds to the end of the line.
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