The jungle began to reclaim it.įor almost thirty years Paronella was forgotten, until a Perth-based couple named Mark and Judy Evans came looking to buy a caravan park. Jose sadly died from cancer in 1948, and after the park changed hands a few times it eventually fell into disrepair. When word spread about the crazy Spaniard building a castle in Queensland, a local municipal department even gifted Paronella Park with thousands of exotic and native plants, including hundreds of Kauri trees which can live for two thousand years.Īlthough he must have planted them with the knowledge that he’d never actually see them grow, Jose seemed certain that his park would live on despite him – and he was absolutely right. I start imagining Jose Paronella himself, valiantly striding through tree-lined pathways as he planned out his legacy.Īn extremely ambitious man, Jose seemingly always had a new invention in mind: everything from creating a hydro-electric plant to power the park to attempting an underground aquarium by slotting fishtanks into earth walls he carved out of a tunnel – and when that failed, he used the humid earth to grow mushrooms instead. I skim my fingers over the rough surfaces of the bannisters and balustrades, all of which are covered in fingermarks from Jose’s own hands. Our Paronella Park tour guide tells us that the Grand Staircase was actually used as the main thoroughfare to carry countless bags of sand and cement around the site. Of course there’s something undeniably magical about discovering a lost jungle world– particularly when it looks like a modern-day Angkor Wat – but the human touch here is undeniable too. Read more: Exploring the abandoned Arctic town of PyramidenĪs we wander further through Paronella Park, I begin to see this place as more than just a set of abandoned ruins. It’s as if the ghostly guests of Paronella Park’s past are still just around the corner. It’s almost too easy to imagine plates and picnic baskets laid out on top and if I squint at the falls beyond I can half-see a rowing boat filled with excited guests. Abandoned castle spain cracked#Now the sloping pathways lead past thundering falls and toward a steep flight of narrow stairs, their bannisters covered with ivy and twisting vines.Īt their base are heavy stone tables, some of them cracked and most covered with layers of spongy moss. Jump forward almost a hundred years though, and today’s lost world of Paronella looks quite different to Jose’s initial dream. A lost taste of Europe in the Australian rainforest The resulting structures which sprang up were not just his dream castle, but also botanical gardens and tennis courts, a cafe and a grand staircase, and even a ballroom which doubled up as a theatre and cinema. Thanks to countless stories his grandmother told him about Spanish history, Jose had decided to build a replica of Spain in Queensland: his own recreation of a Spanish castle for other people to enjoy.ĭespite having little experience in construction, Jose Paronella bought five hectares of virgin land at Mena Creek Falls – much of it covered in a tangle of trees and vines – and began to build. Now Jose was planning to recreate a dream he’d had since childhood. Back in his Spanish homeland Jose had originally trained as a pastry chef, but during three years spent working in Australia he’d become a wealthy man. It was his second visit to the continent, and he’d decided to start a new life in Queensland along with his new bride, Margarita. In 1925, a young Spaniard named Jose Paronella arrived in Australia. Paronella Park: history spanning a century We’ve found the centrepiece of Paronella Park – the ruins of a castle built almost a hundred years ago, which have lain abandoned for half that time.īut now the castle is coming back to life. The sounds of the outside world fade away: car engines and human chatter replaced by bird calls and the breeze moving through the leaves.Īt the edge of a clearing is a giant waterfall cascading over soft rock and splashing to a lake below. We keep on going down a small dirt track, letting the tree branches knit themselves closer and closer together as we step deeper inside the forest. We pull into a tarmac car park beside the highway where white cars shimmer in the heat and walk beneath a row of metal letters, their edges slightly crumbling with rust. Our starting point is an unexpected location, though. It’s probably the closest thing to a real-life fairytale I’ve ever encountered, and it takes place in the middle of the rainforest in Far North Queensland, Australia. I want to tell you a story about Paronella Park.
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