Parc de la Ciutadella

This popular park, home to the Barcelona zoo, is an important lung for a dense medieval city that has few open spaces. On Sunday afternoons it fills up with families, musicians, and performers; colourful parrots fill the palm and orange trees. But it was hardly intended that way; in fact, it was born of defeat and sorrow.

On 11 September 1714, as Barcelona fell to the troops of Philip V after an heroic 11-month resistance, Madrid decided it was high time to let those feisty Catalans know who was boss. The districts of La Ribera and El Born would bear the brunt: thousands of residents were forced to tear down their own homes, stone by stone, so Barcelona could build (naturally at its own expense), the 270-acre star-shaped Ciutadella.

It was of the largest fortresses ever constructed in Europe, occupied by an army that kept its cannons well oiled and aimed straight at the city. Mostly, however, it was used as a prison, especially for liberals during the Napoleonic era and early 19th century.