Magic Fountain of Montjuic

The Holidays are here and what better way to enjoy such a great time than to travel? This week our journey take us to Barcelona, Spain! Home of one of the world’s best football teams, FC Barcelona. Barcelona is also known as being a collection of great architecture and art.

From the City’s iconic Camp Nou stadium, our destination takes us South East to one of Barcelona’s most popular locations, the Plaça d’Espanya – another monument made for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. Following the Avenida Maria Christina to the end we encounter the Magic Fountain of Montjuic.

The Fountain is sits on the porch of the national palace but also near a very important Italian styled building erected back in 1929, known as the National Art Museum of Catalonia. While the building has been standing for 84 years, it was only until 1990 that it was made into a national museum.

However, our focus today is not on historic buildings or intense soccer rivalry known as ‘el clasico,’ but on the very special Magic Fountain of Montjuic. The fountain was built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition and was completed just a day before the exposition began.

Carles Buigas, the fountain’s engineer and designer faced some opposition when he proposed to build a fountain that would rely on mechanical jets to shoot streams of water into the air. Many argued that the project would not be completed in a year’s time for the Barcelona International Exposition.

Over the years the fountain has seen many changes and renovations. During the Spanish Civil war, the fountain was badly damaged and was not operational until 1955. In the 80s the fountain added music and for the 1992 Summer Olympics, the fountain was completely restored.

The fountain pumps 2,600 litters of water per second and reticulates water using 3 concentric pools. The fountains jets are illuminated to give a great fountain lighting experience. The fountain design has stayed virtually unchanged despite many renovations during the years. Many say this was one of the first fountains to synchronize music with lights and water, and remains to this day one of Barcelona’s most popular attractions.

Fountain Schedule

The Blood Fountain – Swansea Wales, UK

I was lounging today, taking a day off from my travels and thinking about this fountain I once visited. I traveled to Wales and found something very spooky!

Halloween is coming up, and I thought this was the perfect fountain to talk about to get the blood pumping for the holiday… literally. This fountain is called, “The Blood Fountain.”

Found in Castle Gardens, Swansea – this fountain is tinted red, and has a caution sign warning bystanders that the fountain dye may stain clothing. Now, I’m not sure if the fountain’s water is red all the time, but the dying of the water started during an event to support heart disease, and celebrate National Heart Month.

The whole community came together around this fountain and they shared in a picnic filled with heart-healthy goodies. Everyone was dressed in red and and all in support of the British Heart Foundation’s efforts to keep hearts healthy and people happy. It was wonderful!

Fountains can be such a call to joy. Festivals happen around fountains, people drop all their wishes into them, and they generally bring such life to a place that might not be so lively otherwise.

So this Halloween, go find a fountain, make a wish, stay safe, and why not keep your heart healthy while you’re at it!

Washington Harbor

Awhile ago I wrote about the fountain at the Washington Harbor. Here is a really cool video of the light show!

The fountain features: Day and Evening water and light shows, 41 custom Crystal ChoreoSwitches®, 3 Central Burst jets that reach up to 60’/ 18m, 42 Crystal LED IQ sequencing lights and Show Controls that can be run from an iPad or iPhone.

 

Sunset Island

I often like to say that fountains are interactive pieces of art, but this fountain is so pretty I had to mention it! It is a mosaic style fountain that is in shape of a big compass. So pretty and well constructed.

This fountain is found in a housing community in Ocean City and is the perfect accent to the beautiful natural water features found around the community. Ocean City is essentially a big island filled with a private community of townhouses and condos, so the nautical themed compass fountain goes perfectly along with the ocean feel.

This fountain is also interactive! Ya’ll know how I feel about that!

Short Hills Mall

The other day a co-worker asked me if I enjoy indoor fountains as much as the outdoor ones that I spend so much time writing about. My answer was that typically I hate indoor fountains. They are usually tacky and uninspiring installations found in depressing malls and hotels. BUT there are always exceptions to this rule!

This indoor fountain found in a mall in New Jersey ironically enough, captured my attention with its smart use of lighting and large spherical water features. It is clean, and its modern design is the complete opposite of so many horrible indoor fountains I have seen.

Got to love refreshing design and attention to detail!

St. John Town Center

I wanted to write about another local water feature today! it’s a little different from my typical posts because this water feature is not really a fountain. It’s a cool man-made pond that was built outside one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Jacksonville, Maggiano’s.

This man-made pond is so whimsical and fun. There are a couple of metal herons who have spouts of water coming from their beaks, so I guess this pond could also be considered a fountain. I really love it though, and always spend a little time at it whenever I’m at the town center.

When I was looking for pictures of this fountain online I found out that it was made by the same construction company some of my other favorite local fountains were made by. I’m not surprised!