VISITING BARCELONA | |
 CITY TOURS SELECTION
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/castella/turisme/welcome.htm (castellano) y http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/welcome.htm (inglés)
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