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.