The National Art Museum of Catalonia occupies Palau Nacional, built for Barcelona’s 1929 International Exposition. Its monumental dome houses collections spanning a millennium, including Romanesque mural paintings that were removed from churches and preserved inside the museum.
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The palace’s grand dome and sweeping stair approach were designed to command attention during the 1929 International Exposition. Inside, however, the museum’s most distinctive story is about protecting art that might otherwise have disappeared. In the early twentieth century, museum workers and scholars documented and removed Romanesque mural paintings from churches in the Pyrenees to prevent their sale abroad.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Palau Nacional was built for the 1929 International Exposition.
- The museum opened in the building in 1934.
- Romanesque mural paintings from Pyrenean churches are a major collection strength.
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