Barcelona Montjuïc And Poble Sec

Museu Nacional D’Art De Catalunya (Palau Nacional). Designed by Enric Catá and Pedro Cendoya for the 1929 International Exposition (see Life and Times), the Palau Nacional has housed the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) since 1934. The museum’s main hall is a public event space that resembles a wedding cake in its white, cream, and pink detailed splendor, while the ground-floor wings are home to the world’s finest collection of Catalan Romanesque art (to your left as you walk in) and a wide variety of Gothic pieces (to your right). The Romanesque frescoes, now integrated as murals into dummy chapels, were salvaged in the 1920s from their original, less protected locations in northern Catalunya’s churches. Their restoration creates a surprisingly spiritual tour through the medieval masterpieces. The museum’s Gothic art corridor displays paintings on wood, the medium of choice during that period. The chronological tour of the galleries underlines the growing influence of Italy over Catalunya’s artistic development, and ends with a breathtaking series of paintings by Gothic master Bernat Martorell.

Upstairs, you’ll find MNAC’s collections of Modern art (to the left), of Numismatics (coinage; slightly to the right), and of drawings, prints, and posters (farther to the right). The Modern Art collection comprises Catalan works of art that date from 1800 to the 1940s. Not surprisingly, the collection reflects the avant-garde movements that held sway in Catalunya at the time: Modernisme and Noucentisme. Its highlights include works by Fortuny, Casas, Rusinol, Gaudí, Jujol, Picasso, Gargallo, and Julio Gonzalez. Gaudí’s 1907 “Confidant from the Batlló House” chair is one highlight. The Numismatics collection is a heist movie waiting to happen. It includes more than 134,000 pieces of money (Spanish coins, medals, and valuable papers) and walks the visitor through the history of Catalonia’s coinage from Antiquity to today. The drawings, prints, and posters collection includes pieces that date from the 16th century to the beginning of the avant-garde. The museum’s Fortuny collection is particularly acclaimed. (From Espanya, walk up Av. Reina María Cristina, away from the twin brick towers, and take the escalators to the top. ☎936 22 03 76; www.mnac.es. Open Tu-Sa 10am-7pm, Su and holidays 10am-2:30pm. Wheelchair-accessible. €8.50, students and seniors €6, under 14 free. First Su of the month free. Audio tour included.)

Fundació Miró. Miró’s pieces are a personal and poignant tour through 20th-century Spanish history; the fundamental optimism of his later works and the generosity he demonstrated throughout his life have made him one of Spain’s—not just Catalunya’s—most beloved artists. More than a museum, the Fundació Miró is a foundation to support contemporary art and young Catalan artists as well as a rotating collection of 11,000 of Miró’s works and pieces by other artists inspired by Miró’s unique style. Designed by Miró’s friend Josep Luís Sert, the Fundació links interior and exterior spaces with massive windows and outdoor patios. Skylights illuminate an extensive collection of statues, paintings, and sobreteixims (paintings on tapestry) from Miró’s career. The Fundació also sponsors music recitals in the summer months, and occasionally hosts film festivals (check the website for listings).

The first room of the permanent collection features the Tapestry of the Foundation, a colorful and wall-sized depiction of a woman. Outside, between rooms 11 and 12, The Mercury Fountain created by Miró’s good friend Alexander Calder, commemorates the war-torn town of Almaden. Room 16 displays Miró’s Dream Paintings (1925-1927), an eerie depiction of a world where “the pull of gravity” no longer exists. The Constellation Series, the more poetic of Miró’s works, is on display in room 17. Pick up a headphone set from the ticket desk to guide you to some of the most famous pieces in the foundation. (Take the funicular from Paral·lel or catch the Park Montjuïc bus from Pl. Espanya. ☎934 43 94 70; www.fundaciomiro-bcn.org. Library open M and Sa 10am-2pm, Tu-F 10am-2pm and 3-6pm. Fundació open July-Sept. Tu-W and F-Sa 10am-8pm, Th 10am-9:30pm, Su and holidays 10am-2:30pm; Oct.-June Tu-W and F-Sa 10am-7pm, Th 10am-9:30pm, Su and holidays 10am-2:30pm. Last entry 15min. before closing. €8, students and seniors €6, under 13 €4. Temporary exhibitions €4/3/4. Headphones €4. Concert tickets €10.)

Museu Olimpic De L’Esport. Prepare for some serious sensory overload. As visitors walk down a spiraling ramp, videos, photographs, and display cases of historical artifacts bombard with information on the history and ethic of sports. For sports enthusiasts and couch potatoes alike, the museum is worth a visit: its exhibits cover genuinely interesting subjects like major upsets and the history of sports for the disabled. Downstairs, the displays are interactive, and visitors can measure their high jump or long jump against gold medal heights and lengths—a fun, if humbling, experience. (Av. de l’Estadi, 60. From the funicular, walk up Av. de Miramar, which it becomes Av. de l’Estadi; the museum is on your left. ☎932 92 53 79; www.museuolimpicbcn.com. Open Apr.-Sept. Tu-Sa 10am-8pm; Oct.-Mar. Tu-Sa 10am-6pm, Su and holidays 10am-2:30pm. €4, students €2.50, under 14 free.)

Museu Etnològic. This museum, which will be of great interest to anthropology enthusiasts but perhaps of little interest to the uninitiated, has an extensive permanent collection that includes more than 10,000 items from around the world. The museum’s exhibits draw attention to the overarching lifestyles of those in the cultures that produced the artifacts; the Catalan section, for example, shows the role of each object in a stockbreeding society, while the Australian Aboriginal section shows weapons and paintings as they are used and understood in a hunter-gatherer society. Visitors leave the museum not just having seen thousands of unrelated objects, but with a sense, if only a shallow one, of each culture represented. (Pg. Santa Madrona, downhill from the funicular or uphill from Museu Arqueològic. ☎934 24 68 07; www.museuetnologic.bcn.es. Open June-Sept. Tu-Sa 10am-6pm, Su 10am-2pm and 3-8pm. Oct.-May Tu, Th and Sa 10-7pm; W and F 10am-2pm; Su 10am-2pm and 3-8pm. €3, students and seniors €1.50. 1st Su of every month and every Su 3-8pm free.)

Museu Arqueològic De Catalunya. Founded in 1932, the Museu Arqueològic is located in the beautiful Palau de Artes Graficas, constructed in 1929 for the Exposición Universal. A tour of the galleries’ jewelry, earthenware, sculptures, mosaics, and countless other artifacts will take you from prehistoric times to the Medieval Ages in Catalunya and the Balearic Islands. Unfortunately, much is left to the imagination, as the historical context and explanations are somewhat sparse. Several rooms feature a collection of Carthaginian art from Ibiza, fascinating models of huge megalithic funeral monuments, and excavated relics from the Greco-Roman city of Empúries in surrounding Catalunya. (Pg. Santa Madrona, 39-41. From Espanya, L1/L3, take bus #55 up the hill to the Palau Nacional. When you are facing the Palau Nacional, the museum is to the left. From the Museu Etnologic, walk down Pg. de Santa Madrona and the museum will be on your left. ☎934 24 65 77; www.mac.es. Open Tu-Sa 9:30am-7pm, Su and holidays 10am-2:30pm. €3; ages 16-18, disabled, students and children of single-parent households €2.10, under 16 and 1st Su of every month free.)