Top 10 Barcelona Museums

Barcelona has some wonderful cultural sights and some of the world’s best architecture, but the Catalan Capital also offers some great Museums, too. Here are my best 10 (in no particular order).

1. Picasso Museum. The Malagan artist spent part of his creative life in Barcelona, and Barcelona’s Picasso Museum has some of his early work such as sketches, and sculptures and paintings from his later life. Picasso’s father taught at the nearby La Llotja School of art, and the young Pablo also attended here, too. The museum was reformed in 2003, and is one of the most visited attractions in Barcelona.

2. The Erotic Museum. I’m including this just for the novelty factor, as it’s located on Las Ramblas, the city’s central boulevard, making it a popular stop for many tourists, curious as to what may be on show. Spain and Barcelona is not shy when it comes to sex, and there are many “clubs” masking as brothels and the (in)famous Bagdad club on Nou de la Rambla as a live sex show receiving many visitors, but the Erotic Museum is a quirky, fun place to have a sneak peek at the history of Erotica.

3. MNAC  - the National Museum of Catalan Art. This is a huge exhibition space located in the Palace at the foot of Montjüic, just above the Magic Fountains, and is impossible to see in 1 day. The museum comprises of various types of art ranging from coins, photography and 13th Century Gothic collections. The highlight of the museum however are the Romanesque murals taken from the dilapidated churches of northern Catalunya, and displayed in wooden frames.

4. Chocolate Museum. The tradition in Catalunya at Easter time is not so much eggs, as “monas” which is a sculpture made from chocolate. Eggs are indeed popular and traditional, but many of the Patisseries in the city have marvellous creations on show in the days coming up to Easter and often have orders from clients months in advance. There is no better place to see just how far this can go than the Chocolate Museum, which has its master sculptors creating some fantastic “monas” of your favourite cartoon characters, as well as models of the famous buildings in the city. The workshop is an open view affair, and is one of the most popular stops in the museum, which also offers a brief history of chocolate, too.

5. La Pedrera. Although technically not just a museum, the penultimate floor of Gaudi’s Casa Mila (dubbed the stone quarry by locals at the time) houses some fantastic scale models of Gaudi’s works, original blueprints (that look like purple crayon scribblings) and audio visual exponents showing some of the UNESCO World Heritage sites designed by Gaudi (of the 9 that Barcelona boasts). The attic itself if a wonderful space, almost like being inside Moby Dick with the running central beam, and curved brick walls giving the experience of rib cages – Gaudi didn’t like straight lines and the whole façade of La Pedrera has not one single straight line.

6. Fundacio Joan Miró. The Catalan artist has a huge collection in one of the most fantastic museums in the city, both for the building and the location, too. The museum is located up on Montjüic Mountain, just next to the Funicular train and the cable car which takes you up to the top of the castle. Just along from here are the Olympic diving boards, which also offer such amazing views of the vast expanse of Barcelona below. The museum itself is bright with white walls and arches, highlighting even more Miró’s trademark paintings using primary colours. There is also a lovely sculpture garden, and over 225 paintings making this museum a favourite stop for art students and curious tourists alike.

7. The Maritime Museum. Barcelona has a fantastic maritime history, and details of battles at sea, and other historical noteworthy events are depicted in detail at the Maritime museum, located on Darassanes in the old shipyard buildings, still joined to the old city walls and the Portal de Santa Madrona. The Gothic style building dates at over 700 years old, and is a Historical and Artistic Monument of the Spanish government. There is also a temporary exhibition space which has had recent spaces filled with Tin Tin, the hugely successful Human Bodies exhibition, and usually always surprises with its choices.

8. The City History Museum. Located in the King’s Plaza (Plaça del Rei), this is an underground labyrinth of streets, Roman Villas and storage vats for oil and wine. This museum really does give you a trip back in time, and it’s amazing to be underneath the busy streets of Barcelona’s shops and bustling Gothic Quarter streets, whilst taking in such ancient ruins. Such beauties as the Saló del Tinall dating from 1370 which used to be the Catalan Parliament. Work is on-going to re-enforce certain structures, and further excavations are planned.

9. FC Barcelona. Camp Nou is one of the biggest football stadiums in Europe, with maximum capacity of 98,000 spectators bearing witness to some spectacular nights of football. The stadium also has a great museum – very well visited by the official visitor stats – with guided tours of the changing rooms, the tunnel and out onto the turf and director’s box, as well as audio-visual information of the greatest players to play for Barça.
 
10. Last, but by no means least, is the city’s wax museum, but I’m including this in the list partly because of the next door “Forest of the Fairies” bar/café, which is a must-see place when you visit Barcelona. You can easily spot the wax museum on the left at the bottom end of Las Ramblas as you walk towards the Old Port. There is a ticket box, often with a period Englishman in Africa perched on a kind of rickshaw. If truth be told, the actual wax museum is laughable with a mix mash of Lady Di, Spanish historical figures (like Gaudi), and bears nothing of a resemblance to London’s Madame Tussaudes. However, the Forest of the Fairies is a real gem, with Hansel and Gretel style trees inside the bar, some strange Demonic artwork and trick mirrors and the odd waxwork inside too. I recommend you give it a try!