This is the 3477th most frequent Spanish word.
existía
"Existía" means "existed."
In this sentence, 'existía' is in the past tense to indicate the existence of a legend in a bygone era.
En el reino antiguo, existía una leyenda sobre un dragón.
In the ancient kingdom, there existed a legend about a dragon.
Here, 'existía' is used to describe the past existence of a park, emphasizing it was there during the speaker's childhood.
En mi infancia, existía un parque donde jugábamos todos los días.
In my childhood, there used to be a park where we played every day.
In this sentence, 'existía' is used to express a past realized state of non-existence regarding the solution of the problem.