Palau de la Música Catalana Print version

Palau de la Música Catalana

Historic information

This unique building was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1905 and 1908. It is a pioneering work of Catalan modernisme and symbolises the rebirth of Catalan culture. The Palau was commissioned by the Orfeó Català, the choral society founded by Lluís Millet, and stands on the site of the former convent of Sant Francesc de Paula. The building is structured around the oval concert hall and has a ground floor and two upper floors. Thick columns support the arcades at the entrance. The main balcony is decorated with colourful mosaics and covers both façades of the building. The interesting sculpture on the corner by Miquel Blay is an allegory to Catalan song. There used to be streetlamps on the second floor but these have been lost. However, the busts of the composers Palestrina, Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, by Eusebi Arnau, survive. Inside, the building is an intoxicating succession of sculptures, multi-coloured stained glass, mosaics and decorative elements which constantly play with the perception of light and colour. The most famous image of the auditorium is the spectacular stained-glass lantern in the shape of an inverted bell, which weighs one ton. It was designed by Domènech i Montaner and made by Pau Gargallo and epitomises the sheer beauty and splendour of Catalan modernisme.
The extension of the building, carried out in 2003 by Oscar Tusquets, has exposed to view Domènech’s huge original stained-glass window which used to be hidden by the church of the former convent.

In order to know the zone better

The district of Sant Pere took shape from the time when Barcelona needed to expand beyond its Roman walls. From the 11th century onwards, the new urban layout developed around the Monastery of Sant Pere de les Puelles, which had feudal control over its surrounding land and along the Rec Comtal canal, which was essential to the traditional textile industries in the district. Its narrow, winding streets, located around the streets of Sant Pere Més Alt and Sant Pere Més Baix, still retain their original layout, although most of the buildings were reconstructed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The area is of major interest historically, architecturally and as an example of urban planning.


Scene description All about my mother Palau de la Música Catalana: Pedro Almodóvar located the flat where Agrado (Antonia San Juan) lives, opposite the main façade of the Palau de la Música Catalana. The flat has magnificent views of the modernista building. 1.Manuela and Agrado are in the dining room in the flat from where we can see the main façade of the Palau. 2.A beautiful shot of Manuela with her back to the camera, hanging out the washing on the balcony with the modernista columns of the Palau in the background. 3.Manuela and Agrado walk arm in arm with the Palau in the background.	Did you know that... The flat was used as Agrado’s home and had splendid, authentic views of the Palau de la Música Catalana. It was located on the first floor of a building right opposite the Palau and the views in the film are the ones actually seen from the flat itself. Almodóvar said that he found it amazing that you could rent a flat like this one for 40,000 pesetas (about 240 €) a month in 1998.

The Barcelona of Pedro Almodovar / Palau de la Música Catalana

Barcelona Movie Walks '24

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