National Palace

The National Palace (Palau Nacional) in Barcelona was built between 1926 and 1929 at the foot of the Montjuïc mountain, at one end of the Avenida Maria Cristina for the 1929 Universal Exposition. It served as the main entrance to the exhibition and the Montjuïc Park. It was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII and his wife, Victoria Eugenia. Today, it houses the National Museum of Catalan Art, which is widely regarded as one the most important museums in Spain.

Thanks to its elevated location relative to the city, the palace is well visible from many different parts of Barcelona. Below the palace, there is the Magic Fountain created by the engineer Carles Buigas as well as the Four Columns, which were reconstructed in 2011 after having been demolished during the dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera

The palace was designed by the architects Eugenio Cendoya and Enric Catà and supervised by Pere Domènech i Roura. It covers an area of approximately 32,000 square metres and, like many buildings of that time, is built in the Eclectic style. The building has side towers and a central cupola inside of which there are frescoes by Francesc d'Assis Galí. The main rooms include the Great Hall, the Oval Office, which has 2,300 square metres, the Throne Room, which is a conference room with walls of marble, the Central Dome, which currently functions as a library, but previously was a tearoom. The interior of the palace is adorned with ornaments and paintings created by different Noucentist artists, such as Josep Obiols and Ricard Canals.

Source of description: planerGO
Neighbourhood Montjuic (Sants-Montjuïc)
Price definition of price gratis
Geographical coordinates 41.3676819, 2.1540772
Address 08038 Barcelona, Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina
Construction dates 1926 - 1929
Opening date 1929
Area 0.32
How to arrive? official transport site

How to arrive