Palau de la Musica Catalana

If you visit Barcelona and love music, you cannot miss the Catalan Music Palace. Completed in 1908, this beautiful building, known in the city by its original name Palau de la Musica Catalana, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1997. The architect of the Palau de la Musica Catalana is Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who built many important modernist buildings in Barcelona.

The stained glass windows with their rich coloured details, the sculptures, and the metal of the Palau de la Musica Catalana are truly a feast for the eyes. A performance in this concert hall becomes unique and elegant, an experience not to be forgotten for both the performer and the audience. It is known as a masterpiece of Barcelona’s prevailing style: Modernism.

Things to do in the Catalan Music Palace

For more than a century, this masterpiece of art has been both a lavishly decorated concert hall and a symbol of the city’s cultural life. Inside, the concert hall and the stage merge into a harmonious unit, thanks also to the use of several unusual materials: glass makes the Palais de la Musique Catalana very bright and gives it a unique atmosphere, then there is ceramics, typical of Catalan modernism.

Above the stage is a church organ while on the exterior façade one can find elements of Gothic and Modernism. The façade is decorated with terracotta columns with busts of great composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Wagner, while the entrance to the Catalan Palace of Music is through a crowning tower.

The Concert Hall

A visit to the impressive concert hall of the Palais de la Musique Catalana is the highlight of the visit. The large organ above the stage is flanked by coloured windows, and the upper light also illuminates the hall; light appears through a curved, coloured glass dome.

Entrance tickets for the Catalan Palace of Music

You can visit the Palais de la Musique Catalana in two ways: buy a skip-the-line ticket or take part in a tour with an official guide – choose the one that suits you best! And if you want to save money on admission, consider buying a city card.

Skip-the-line ticket for the Catalan Music Palace

If you buy your ticket online, you will avoid the queues at the ticket office and you will be guaranteed a visit on the day indicated.

Ticket + guided tour of the Catalan Music Palace

To find out all about the Catalan Music Palace, you can have an expert guide accompany you during your visit. The cost is slightly higher than the entrance ticket, which is of course included; by purchasing this visit you will save time and avoid queuing at the ticket office.

Discounted entrance with City Card

Finally, if you purchase the Barcelona Card Express or Barcelona Card, you will get a discount on the entrance ticket to the Palais de la Musique Catalana, in addition to all the benefits of the cards, such as unlimited transport and free or discounted entry to over 100 attractions and activities in Barcelona.

Orfeò Català, the Catalan choir

The Palace of Catalan Music is one of Barcelona’s most emblematic buildings and an essential part of any visit to the Spanish city. The building is owned by theOrfeó Catal à (the Catalan Choir), founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives.

More than a choir, it is a fundamental institution of Catalan culture. Some of its activities have included building the Palau, publishing the Catalan music magazine, organising concerts, choral musicology, research into popular and traditional songs and so on.