The Olympic Barcelona
The vila olímpica
The Vila Olímpica
For the celebration of the Olympic Games of 1992, a new district was born in Barcelona, in which apartments surrounded by gardens were constructed in order to lodge the athletes, Today, it is a residential and playful zone that is next to zoo and the beach. The Olympic Port has become one of the typical areas of pubs and during the day it offers great variety of restaurants specialized in sea food.
The gastronomical offer of the zone is enormous. One of the fashionable restaurants in the area is the Bestial Restaurant, in Trias Fargas street, next to the artificial lake that is under the golden fish, in the part of the Barceloneta beach.
Most showy of the Olympic Vila are the two skyscrapers that open passage to the zone of the port, the restaurants, the pubs and the casino.
On the right, if one comes from the metro, he sees the Arts Hotel, a building of 44 floors, designed by Bruce Graham and Frank Or. Ghery. The one on the left, known as Mapfre Tower, is a building of offices designed by Iñigo Ortiz and Enrique de Leon. Both have a height of 153.5 meters and they are te highest of Spain.
In order to arrive to the towers, it is necessary to go through a plaza with a giant pountain and a singular sculpture, called David and Goliat. This one is the Volunteers square, constructed in honor to the Olympic volunteers. Once transferred the two towers, the enormous golden fish shows itself, another of the symbols of the Olympic Vila, also designed by Frank Or. Ghery. At the bottom, it shows the industrial chimney that has been remembering that until less than half a century, Barcelona was mainly an industrial city.
In this zone, watching the sea, the beach on the left is the one of the Barceloneta and the one on the right, after the marina, is the New Icaria. In parallel to this beach, there is an avenue with gardens and wooden bridges that lead to the beach of the Bogatell. In this avenue, right where New Icaria beach begins, the Plaça dels Campions (Champions square) is located, in which it is possible to appreciate the detail of the 257 golden medals that were earned during the Olympic games of 1992.
A bit ahead, in the park of the fountains, there is also a small artificial lake next to the coastal square, the urban route that relieves the traffic of the city.
The Olympic Port is between the beaches of the Barceloneta and Nova Icaria. In order to accede from Plaza Catalunya it is necessary to take line 1 to Urquinaona and to change to line 4 direction La Pau. The destiny shutdown is Ciutadella - Olympic Vila. Plaza Urquinaona is very close to Plaza Catalunya and therefore it is also possible to walk directly until it and then take line 4 of metro.
Olympic Barcelona
The well-known mountain of Montjuic, in the so-called Olympic Ring, home to major sports facilities that were created or remodeled for the Olympic Games.
La Olimpic Ring
The mountain of Montjuïc gathers in it the Anella Olimpica, great sport facilities that were created or were remodelated for the celebration of the Olympic Games. This zone is between the Olympic Stadium and the cemetery of Montjuïc.
The Stadium was remade, conserving the original facade, but Palau Sant Jordi and the National Institute of Physical Education are new constructions, the Picornell swimming pools, that already existed, were modernized. In the Olympic ring there is also is a new baseball field, a pool, a park and the well-known commemorative monolith of the Olympic Games, which is a work of the artist Santiago Calatrava.
Palau Sant Jordi is a multifunctional area where, in addition to sport events, concerts and spectacles are celebrated. It is a covered enclosure with capacity for 17,000 seated people in which it is possible to be create from an ice track to the scenario for a crouded concert. Nevertheless, the most spectacular of Palau Sant Jordi the outside: the vault that covers it is formed by roofing glassed ceramics tiles of and zinc plates that are maintained on a complex metallic net.
The other great protagonist of the Olympic Ring is the Olympic Stadium, just as the Sant Jordi, it was built for sport events as well as for musical, cultural or special fairs. Much greater than the previous one, since its capacity is for 55,000 people (77,000 when provisional launching slips are placed), in this open stadium stage the ceremony of inauguration of the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games were celebrated.
Although the stadium was reformed to welcome the Olympic Games, the facade was conserved, it was built by architect Pere Domènech i Roure, son of the Modernist Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The frontis is of Vicenç Navarrese and the statues at the entrance door are the work of Pau Gargallo.
In order to visit the facilities of the Olympic Ring one should go to the mountain of Montjuïc. It is an urban zone, with service of buses and five minutes from Plaza España. From the mountainone can see magnificent views of the city and long walks can be taken, but it is difficult to find a Coffee shop or a Bar.
The Turístic Bus gets to the Olympic Ring, but it is also possible to arrive with the habitual urban transport. From Plaza Catalunya,line 1 direction Hospital de Bellvitge until the station of Plaza Espanya. Once in Plaza Espanya one sees the Reina Maria Cristina Avenue, flanked by two great venecianas towers. In this avenue onecan take bus umber 50 number to the Ring.
More information about the Olympic Barcelona in:
http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/welcome.htm
