Barcelona Refugi 307

Barcelona Refugi 307: About 1,500 Barcelona civilians were killed during the air bombings of the Civil War, a fact that the government long silenced. As Poble Sec particularly suffered the effects of bombing, a large air-raid shelter was built partially into the mountain at the top of C/Nou de la Rambla; this is one of some 1,200 in the entire city. Now Barcelona Refugi 307 converted into a museum, it is worth a visit. The tour takes about 90mins.

Address

C/Nou de la Rambla 169
Area Montjuic & Poble Sec
Transport Metro Paral·lel.
Telephone 93 256 21 22
Open (guided tour & by appointment only) 11am, noon (Catalan), 1pm (Spanish) Sat, Sun.
Admission €2.

Barcelona Palau Güell

Barcelona Palau Güell: A fortress-like edifice shoehorned into a narrow six-storey sliver, the Palau Güell was Gaudí's first major commission, begun in 1886 for textile baron Eusebi Güell. After major structural renovation, Barcelona Palau Güell has partially reopened to the public, and is expected to fully reopen soon.

For the time being visitors to Barcelona Palau Güell can look around the subterranean stables, with an exotic canopy of stone palm fronds on the ceiling, and the ground floor. Here the vestibule has ornate mudéjar carved ceilings from which the Güells could snoop on their arriving guests through the jalousie trellis-work; at the heart of the house lies the spectacular six-storey hall complete with musicians' galleries and topped by a dome covered in cobalt honeycomb tiles. Visitors are also shown a short video about the building. The antidote to this dark and gloomy palace lies on its roof terrace, decorated with a rainbow forest of 20 mosaic-covered chimneys.

Address

C/Nou de la Rambla 3
Area Raval
Transport Metro Drassanes or Liceu.
Telephone 93 317 39 74
Open 10am-2.30pm Tue-Sat.
Admission free.

Barcelona Museu Picasso

Barcelona Museu Picasso: 'There is where it all began… where I understood how far I could go,' Picasso said of his formative years in Barcelona. His family arrived here just before his 14th birthday; the nine years he was based here, before moving to Paris at 23, were to exert a lifelong influence on his work.


After training in La Llotja art school (where his father taught), the poverty-stricken Picasso lived in the port area, where he became fascinated by the underbelly of fin-de-siècle Barcelona - its brothels, beggars and street entertainers feature heavily in his early work. He was also a key member of the bohemian circle of artists at the Quatre Gats café, several of whom became lifelong friends. One was Jaume Sabartés, who later became Picasso's secretary and founder of the Picasso Museum.

By the time the Picasso Museum opened in 1963, Picasso was world famous and the Picasso Museum was housed in the prestigious Palau Aguilar. Sabartés donated his own personal collection and also united most of Picasso's pieces from the city museums. The collection of the Barcelona Picasso Museum has grown to fill five adjoining palaces, with more than 3,500 permanent pieces and a constant stream of high-profile temporary shows.

Rather than being an overview of the artist's work, the Barcelona Picasso Museum is a record of the young Picasso's vital formative years.

The seamless presentation in the the Barcelona Picasso Museum of his development from 1890 to 1904, from deft pre-adolescent portraits to sketchy landscapes to the intense innovations of his Blue Period, is unbeatable. The Barcelona Picasso Museum then leaps to a gallery of mature Cubist paintings from 1917. Those looking for hits such as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and the first Cubist paintings from the time (many of them done in Catalonia) will be disappointed. But the pièce de résistance is the complete series of 58 canvases based on Velázquez's Las Meninas, donated by Picasso himself after the death of Sabartés. Tribute is paid to Sabartés with a room dedicated to Picasso's portraits of him (best known is the Blue Period painting where he wears a white ruff), and Sabartés's own doodlings.

The display ends with linocuts, engravings and some wonderful ceramics donated by Picasso's widow. Guided tours in English take place at 6pm on Thursdays and noon Saturdays and are included in the ticket price.

Address

C/Montcada 15-23
Area Born & St Pere
Transport Metro Jaume I .
Telephone 93 256 30 00
Open (last ticket 30mins before closing) 10am-8pm Tue-Sun.
Admission All exhibitions €9; €5.80 reductions. Temporary exhibition only €5.80; €4.80 reductions; free under-16s. Free (museum only) 1st Sun of mth.