2. Waterfall Fountain

It is said that this is the only humid garden made by Gaudí. The fact is that here, there is no lack of water. Firstly, the river Llobregat flows through the area, and secondly, a number of fountains can be found along the itinerary. These fountains, originally natural, were made using the water that was filtered through the rocks naturally. Today, due to drought in previous years, the water comes from a canal. For this reason, drinking it is not advisable.

The particularity of the Artigas Gardens is the integration between nature and architecture, a very common characteristic in Gaudí’s works.

This integrity is achieved, on the one hand, with the usage of materials from the local area, such as river stones, slab, slate, pumice, limestone and cement. Therefore, the piece of work comes together with the natural environment and at the same time, it is guaranteed that the materials will endure the weather conditions of the area.

On the other hand, this integrity is also shown in the choice of vegetation. These plants are either native or introduced here many years ago: boxwood, pine, black poplar, fir tree, holly tree, hybrid plane tree, and so on. However, the workers of Parc Güell brought with them an original present, two non-native species: a palm tree (or dwarf fan palm) and yucca, which were supposed to be planted at the park Güell in Barcelona and which were here for many years. Today we have a replica of the original palm tree in the middle of the square in front of the waterfall.

Antoni Gaudí found in nature his main source of inspiration. Let’s have a look at the Waterfall Fountain, right in front of us.

Water slides down a semi-circular wall made of pumice stone which is covered in moss, and it falls to a pond whose wall is coated with river stones. In the past, in the biggest hole on top of the waterfall, there was a figure of an angel, which was lost during the Spanish Civil War. During the restoration of the gardens, when finding this figure was impossible and following the strict rules of restoration, it was not possible to restore it. Remember this angel, since everything points at this figure really existing and in the next stop, it will help you discover the best kept secret of the Gardens.

On the left-side of the waterfall there is a small white bench, made with slate stone and in the shape of fish scale, which entices to listen to the babbling of the water.

On the right side, a mural that imitates nature, representing tree trunks, is a trick of the eye: it is not wood what we see, but cement. Further along you will find out about the technique used.

If one tuns around and looks at the river, we find a handrail coated in irregular shapes with tiny limestones and flanking it, huge planters made with pumice stone.

Let’s continue our tour through the path on our left-hand side and we will turn around again to the left, going into a pine forest.