A Guide to the Museums of Barcelona,
Spain
The city of Barcelona has some
beautiful museums, exhibiting
artefacts that track the history of
the city and its country.
The History
Museum of Barcelona is
situated in a magnificent palace, and
is also said to be the largest underground
museum in Europe. The exhibits in this
museum cover the periods of Roman and
Visigothic Barcelona. The underground
portion of the museum contains the ancient
defensive walls, thermal buildings and
ruins of the Visigothic city. The mediaeval
complex above ground is a continuation
of what is beneath.
One of the more fascinating museums
in the city is the CosmoCaixa
Science Museum. This is actually
a science museum, and is considered
to be one of the best in Europe. The
museum opened to the public in 2004,
after an overhaul that took around 6
years to complete. The science museum
specializes in recreating the Amazonian
forest and its displays reveal some
of the secrets of the ecological world.
A rather interesting museum to visit
is the Maritime Museum.
The Maritime Museum is the most comprehensive
of its kind in the whole country. The
structure which houses it was formerly
a 14th century shipyard building, called
the Dressanes. The Dressanes were  originally
shipping sheds that were used till the
18th century. The museum has all the
artefacts which display the rich Spanish
heritage of the sea, right from the
navigation to the maritime engineering.
The building is made of majestic vaults
supported by massive arches and columns.
The National Museum of Catalan
Art (MNAC) houses a collection
of Catalan art that documents their
history throughout the course of the
last millennium. MNAC has an impressive
collection of Romanesque art, arguably
one of the best in the world. The museum
has pieces of sculpture and even frescoes
from Catalan churches. These pieces
were removed, restored and are now displayed
in the safe custody of the museum. The
museum has endeavoured to recreate the
original settings, so as to convey the
original intended impact of these pieces
of art. Also available for view in the
museum, are collections of Catalan art
from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Additionally, it has the Thyssen-Bornemisza
Collection, which was originally owned
by the Monastery of Pedralbes.
Barcelona Museum of Contemporary
Art (MACBA) is sight that shouldn’t
be missed by any account. MACBA has
pieces of art that all date to the latter
part of the 20th century. The museum
has pieces from quite a few famous contemporary
masters including Klee, Basquiat and
a few others. The main focus of the
museum has centred on the Catalan movements;
these include ones like the conceptual
art of Grup del Treball and the surrealists
Dau al Set. Why not visit Barcelona
for the museums.
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