grok.typepad.com > Barcelona - Montjuic

Montjuic (jewish mountain) overlooks Barcelona from the Southeast. Until not too long ago, the guns of Castell Montjuic kept Barcelona in line for Generalissimo Franco while the castle itself served as a military prison and killing field. Today, you can spend an entire day exploring all the museums, gardens, and other sights on this mountain including the 1992 Olympic Stadiums.

I actually decided to start from my hotel and walk up the mountain. I don't know why.

The first thing I ran into was the Parc Joan Miro with his Woman and Bird maybe-just-a-little-bit-phallic sculpture.


Next you hit the Placa D'espanya. If anyone thinks I'm spelling things wrong in Spanish, it's because the language here is proudly Catalan.


That's the decaying old bull-ring in the background, the Placa de Braus Les Arenes.


Looking up from the Placa, you see the Palau Nacional, now home to the MNAC art museum.


Once you do a bit of climbing, you can look back down at the Placa D'Espanya.


As you keep climbing, you arrive at the first of a series of gardens. This is looking back towards the Palau Nacional.


The Estadi Olimpica sits in the middle of the Olympic Ring, a series of venues for the 1992 Olympic Games.


Once you have climbed to the top, you see the sinister Castell Montjuic. This was a symbol of the Franco dictatorship (Barcelona picked the wrong side in the Spanish Civil War.) In case you think that thirty years ago is ancient history, the Madrid government just got around to turning the Castell over to Barcelonan control two years ago, in 2004.


This gun, dating from the 1890s overlooks the harbor.


You can't beat the view from the top. Sorry you can't see this panorama better.


Amazingly, the sign wasn't in English.


Remember looking up from the Placa D'Espanya at the Palau, this is a telephoto look back down from the Castell. See if you can even find it in the panoramic.


An interesting juxtaposition.


Cruise ship pulled over for speeding.


Rush hour.


These guns are dated from the Spanish Civil War. They control the harbor rather effectively.