cinalia

Barcelona · Montjuïc

MNAC

Romanesque church frescoes lifted whole from the Pyrenees into a palace above the city

Museum Barcelona, Montjuïc€€€€

The Pantocrator of Sant Climent de Taüll, in a reconstructed apse

In the 1920s, with Pyrenean churches collapsing and American collectors circling, Catalonia sent teams to strip the frescoes from the walls and bring them to Barcelona. The technique was borrowed from Italian restorers, the operation was controversial and it saved the largest collection of Romanesque mural painting in the world.

They are displayed in reconstructed apses inside the national palace from the 1929 exhibition, which also holds Gothic, Renaissance and a modernisme floor with Gaudí furniture and Casas paintings.

The detail

Good to know

Building
Palau Nacional, 1929 exhibition
Romanesque
Largest collection of mural painting in the world
Free
Saturdays after 15:00 and the first Sunday of the month
Rooftop
Viewpoint terrace