Why go

From the street the Palau de la Música Catalana is already extraordinary: a corner of brick, mosaic columns and carved figures squeezed into the narrow lanes of Sant Pere. Inside, it becomes one of the most beautiful rooms in Europe. Lluís Domènech i Montaner built it between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society funded by ordinary Catalans, and he made the concert hall itself a glass box flooded with daylight.

It is a working concert hall, so a visit is a guided look behind the scenes during the day, or a concert in the evening. Either way, the moment you step into the auditorium and look up is the reason to come. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with Domènech’s Sant Pau hospital.

What to see

  • The stained-glass skylight. A great inverted dome of golden and blue glass hanging over the stalls, like a sun.
  • The stage. Behind the performers, half-figures of muses emerge in mosaic and sculpture from the back wall, each playing an instrument.
  • The proscenium sculptures. On one side a bust of the Catalan composer Anselm Clavé under a tree, on the other Beethoven and the Valkyries charging out of the stonework.
  • The Lluís Millet Hall. The first-floor foyer, which opens onto a balcony of mosaic-covered columns.
  • The façade. Look up at the sculpture on the corner, an allegory of Catalan song, and the mosaic busts of composers.

Plan your visit

Tickets. The guided tour and the audio-guided visit both cost €24, and the self-guided visit with an explanatory leaflet costs €20. Over 65s and under 35s pay €20 on reduced tickets, residents of Catalonia €14, and children under 10 with an adult go free. Buy online, as tickets bought at the box office carry a surcharge. A combined ticket with La Pedrera costs €42, and there is a combined offer with Sant Pau.

Opening hours. Visits run every day from 9am to 3.30pm, in time slots, and last about 50 minutes. Times can change around rehearsals and events, so check when you book. Latecomers cannot join a tour once it has started.

Getting there. Urquinaona station on metro lines L1 and L4 is about three minutes’ walk away. From Plaça de Catalunya it is about eight minutes on foot, and the Gothic Quarter and the Cathedral are just across Via Laietana.

Good to know. Guided tours run in several languages, including English, at set times, and can include a few minutes on stage when it is free. For the full experience, book a concert: the programme runs from symphony orchestras and choirs to guitar and flamenco evenings, and in December the Palau hosts festive concerts. There is a lift, and the guided visit is accessible.

Allow about an hour, including time to look at the façade from the corner of Carrer de Sant Pere Més Alt, where the sculpture is easiest to see. Concert tickets are sold separately from tours, on the Palau’s own website and at the box office. The surrounding streets of Sant Pere are worth a slow walk too, with the Santa Caterina market and its wave-shaped mosaic roof five minutes away.