La Font del Gat

In the upper part of the Laribale gardens, you can see a beautiful gate, the arch of which is decorated with a ceramic panel depicting two black cats and the numbers 1884 indicating the date of construction. There is a small courtyard behind the gate, the right part of which is a stone wall with terraces. There is a small niche in the wall-a grotto with a stone cat's head, with a rusty iron pipe sticking out of its mouth. This is the famous "Cat Fountain". I must say that the cat's head appeared only in 1918, when a restaurant was built next to the spring. The author is sculptors Joan Antoni Homos (Joan Antoni Homos). Now the fountain has lost its primary function, there is no water in the spring for a long time. The slopes of Montjuic Mountain have many natural water outlets, which in the process of creating gardens were turned into fountains and water cascades. Since the middle of the 18th century, sites near such springs have become a popular holiday destination, picnics and even weddings were held next to them. The cat fountain gained popularity at the end of the 19th century, when the La Colla de l'arròs culinary community began to make tastings here on weekends and holidays. In 1926, the poet Antoni Vives i Batlle wrote a song to the music of the composer Enric Morera i Viura called Baixant de la Font del Gat, which made the fountain legendary. The song tells about a girl named Marietta, who met at the fountain with her beloved soldier. The gardens of Montjuic in the 19th century had many secluded corners, and young people found solitude there for love pleasures.

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