Tibidabo (512 m) is the highest peak of the Collserola ridge, which together with the rivers Besòs and Llobregat encloses the plain of Barcelona, rumpled by a number of hillocks, namely Tàber (15m), on which the Romans established a fort and around which the old town grew, this low site preferred to the neighbouring Montjuïc (173m) which has no fresh water streams (on its northern slopes lies Poble Sec [Dry Village]), Monteroles (121m), Putxet (181m), Falcó (249m), Carmel (267m) on which is Parc Güell, Turó de la Rovira (261m) on which is Parc Guinardó, and Turó de la Peira (133m).
The three towers on the shore are the 'Xemeneies de la FECSA' in Sant Adrià de Besòs, constructed in the early 1970s, and whose demolition has been opposed recently by the local population.
The name Tibidabo is held to derive from the Latin Vulgate Bible verses Matthew 4:9 and Luke 4:6. The devil tempted Jesus with the words "I will give to you" as they looked down from an exceeding high mountain upon all the kingdoms of the world. From this, Barcelona's "exceeding high mountain", on the first wintry day of the autumn, the milky blend of sky and sea to the east dramatically separated into dark and light to the south.
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