Ort's Labyrinth

Brief Information

The Horta Labyrinth grew out of the private Desvalls estate, but its layout can still be read as a carefully designed garden stage. The park lies on the slope of Collserola, so the neoclassical garden is arranged in terraces: the cypress labyrinth is below, the pavilions are higher up, and higher still is a pond fed by water from a natural spring.

It is the oldest historic park of this type in Barcelona. Two different concepts coexist there: a formal 18th-century garden with mythological figures and a 19th-century romantic garden with flower beds, shaded areas, and a waterfall. After the park was handed over to the city, it was opened to the public, and the old Desvalls palace received a new educational purpose.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing how the park guides the eye from bottom to top. On the lower terrace, the cypress labyrinth gives the place its name: this is not a decorative flower bed, but 750 meters of trimmed hedge, where the entrance is framed by a cypress arch and a relief with Ariadne and Theseus. The myth is built directly into the beginning of the route through the labyrinth.

On the middle terrace, two Italian-style pavilions with Tuscan columns continue the classical theme through architecture. Higher up is the pavilion of the nine muses and a pond supplied with water from a natural spring. Between the second and third terraces runs the Romantic Canal with the Island of Love. The contrast is especially noticeable next to the romantic garden: there, shaded areas, a waterfall, and even an imitation of a small cemetery are described. In this way, the park presents two themes not through words, but through its layout: love in the ordered garden and death in the freer romantic section.