A visit to the Tamarita Gardens :: Aparca't

A visit to the Tamarita Gardens

10/07/2006 08:00 h.

Text: Maria Rosa Salvadó

Photos: Dani García

Passing through the gate at the Tamarita Gardens, we enter a Barcelona which brings back memories of the bourgeoisie who built their mansions away from the city centre and surrounded them with peaceful gardens.

This five-acre property, which belonged to the Craywinckel family, was acquired by the cotton manufacturer Alfredo Mata at the beginning of the twentieth century. There he built a stately home –which today houses the Fundació Blanquerna– surrounded by gardens designed by the architect and landscape artist Nicolau M. Rubió i Tudurí. They are considered to be one of his first works. Mata built three houses for his children there but today they do not form part of the gardens.

La Tamarita is a place to go for a rest, for a quiet moment away from the roar of the traffic, even though it is very close. In fact, it is just on the other side of the stone and wrought iron enclosures which surround the gardens and were built to protect a private property which is now a public space.

Much to discover

The gardens have many fine features. On entering them, we are greeted by a semicircular pond with little fountains, water plants and two sleepy, terracotta lions, on either side. Behind them is a filigree, a semicircular wire fence completely covered by a similarly wire-like climber with tiny green leaves, called Maidenhair vine.

All around La Tamarita we can find quiet corners in the shade of hundred-year-old trees, surrounded by plant borders with a little entrance that invites us in to sit a while on a bench. Cool places like the Font de les Granotes, at one end of the garden, a piece of grass to sit for a moment, or places where we can enjoy the scent of flowers. All sheltered and each with its own personality.

There are stone, marble and ceramic figures which have been turned into fountains, steps and paving made from slabs of natural rock and, all around the garden, the sober elegance of ornamental, terracotta plant pots, with their geraniums and ferns.

Landscaped garden

The main way through the garden is a walk watched over by allegorical statues from America, Africa, Asia and Europe. It is reached by paths bordered by dense myrtle neatly cut into geometric patterns and under the shade of tall plane trees.

At the centre of La Tamarita, in the Plaça dels Quatre Continents, the main feature is a fountain. At the top, a waterfall in the form of a grotto made from pumice stone and shells, like those many patios used to have, closes the classic part of the garden.

Places to stop or play

To the right of the waterfall we can find the former greenhouse and an area with grass and benches. Since ball games are not allowed at La Tamarita –plants and ornaments are easily damaged–, this area offers little children a delightful alternative: the chance to run around barefoot on the cool, smooth grass. Something adults can enjoy too.

Next to the house, surrounded by trees and beautifully cut plant borders, there is a very quiet area with grass and benches, where is not unusual to find someone doing Tai Chi. Before you get there, descending some semicircular steps, it is worth visiting one of the most charming spots in La Tamarita: the gardenia garden, where the water flowing from a fountain to a little pond in the middle, from where it spreads via small pipes, reminds us of Arab gardens.

Natural garden

The Tamarita Gardens are eclectic. Consequently there landscaped areas with a classical appearance and other more natural, unplanned areas, behind the house.

The wildest part of the garden is reached via a large meadow and slopes towards the stream, Frare Blanc. It is shady, cool with lots of thick undergrowth. You enter via a pergola decorated with climbing plants.

A path lets you walk along the bed of the former stream. Because it is not flat, this part seems much more natural. At the end of the path, which starts in the grassy area by the house, some steps lead into the play area. It is quite safe, so mothers and fathers can talk together while their children are playing, and can also be reached directly from the garden entrance on Passeig de Sant Gervasi.

During the summer evenings, music takes over from children's games, because it is here that some of the concerts that make up the cycle of classical music, organised every year by the Parks and Gardens department, take place.

Did you know ...

In the Tamarita Gardens there are truly exceptional examples trees and shrubs. Climbing, to the right of the central walk through the gardens, at the start of the meadow and behind the sculpture representing Africa, you come across an oak tree which is more than a hundred years old. It may be the oldest tree in the garden. Apart from its age, it is remarkable for one enormous branch, thick and long, and its smaller branches, which start growing at the foot of the tree and are very close to the ground. This is very tempting for little children, who often play in them.

Right next to the house there are two enormous yew trees, easily two metres tall. In addition, there are lots of big plane and cypress trees. As for bushes, it is worth taking a look at the enormous laurels and some pittosporums, three metres tall, if not more, and which, rather than bushes –which they are– are more like trees.