Segway ride through Ciutadella Park, Barcelona

Description

Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella owes its name to the military citadel that was once located there, built in the early 18th century and was the largest fortress in Europe at the time. Among the park's main attractions are: the Barcelona Zoo, former home of the famous albino gorilla Snowflake and the killer whale Ulysses, and the Cascada, a large and impressive fountain designed by the architect Josep Fontsére, with some minor contributions by the young Antoní Gaudí, who later designed the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera. Because it was seen as a symbol of the oppression of the inhabitants of Barcelona by the Spanish central government, the citadel of Parc de la Ciutadella was destroyed and rebuilt several times during the power struggles between the Spanish central government and the Catalan government. The citadel was finally demolished in the late 19th century. However, there are three architectural remains of the citadel that still exist today: the arsenal, which is now the Parliament of Catalonia, the Church and the Governor's Palace. The Parc de la Ciutadella also houses the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Barcelona Zoology Museum, both pavilions of the Universal Exhibition of 1888.