Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
Art museum · el Poble Sec ·
Palace housing Catalan art, stunning city views, and grand staircases
Palace housing Catalan art, stunning city views, and grand staircases
"This museum’s name, National Art Museum of Catalonia, gives you a sense of the region’s separatist aspirations. While it’s no Prado, it does have an impressive collection of classical art. The location of this building, unabashedly called the Palau Nacional (National Palace), does beat that of Madrid’s big museum. Sitting atop Montjuïc, it offers a view back toward Barcelona and Tibidabo mountain that you don’t get from many other vantage points.Pedralbes Monastery -– This 14th-century monastery in the leafy Pedralbes neighborhood has beautiful grounds, medieval murals, and a museum with European art from the 16th to 20th centuries. You can get here on public transportation, but it’s far enough from the center of town to never get too crowded. Behind the monastery, you can find a trail that leads you up to Carretera de les Aigües." - MATADOR_NETWORK
"Before leaving Barcelona, ride the cable car up and down Montjuïc for excellent city views and make time to visit the nearby National Art Museum of Catalonia, which houses centuries’ worth of local art."
"Place an order in the morning before you head out, and have it delivered to the steps of Montjuïc for an impromptu meal before you visit the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya." - Chris Ciolli
"A palatial art museum perched atop a grand stairway that commands sweeping vistas over the city, including views toward monumental landmarks and a sense of civic grandeur from its elevated position." - Mira T. Lee
"Set atop Montjüic hill, Barcelona’s MNAC is in the city’s national palace; access is via grand stairway (or outdoor escalators), with waterfalls that flow down as you ascend. Indoors is epic too. There are four zones—Medieval Romanesque, Medieval Gothic and Renaissance, and two Modern Art rooms—and each genre is like a maze, every turn transporting you to a new mood, artist or medium (from Gaudí to Picasso to propaganda posters from the Spanish Civil War). Don’t miss the Romanesque frescoes that have been "extracted" from World Heritage churches and reinstalled inside huge domes." - Gemma Askham
