Palace of the Vicereine

The Palace of the Vicereine (Palau de la Virreina in Catalan) is a baroque-style palace sited in Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Much of its dependencies are now used as headquarters of the cultural area of Barcelona City Council and some of the rooms are frequently used for exhibitions or other cultural events organized by the City Council, even to sell tikets for events on the city.

This palace, an example of baroque civil architecture of the eighteenth century was built between 1772 and 1778 by architect and sculptor Carles Grau and promoted by the Marquis de Castellbell, Manuel Amat i Juniet, who was viceroy in Peru earning large fortune there. When he returned to Barcelona his main goal was show to the people his success building that palace. However due to the premature death of the Marquis, the palace was occupied by his widow and hence became known as Palacio de la Virreina (Palace of the Vicereine)

The interior is Baroque and Rococo. It has a large courtyard with a double staircase from which you can see the large windows of the rooms of the palace. Its facade features vertical axis with symmetrical structure and many balconies.

In 1941 he was declared a National Monument.