Palau de la Música Catalana

The Palau de la Música Catalana is a Modernista high point and World Heritage Site. It’s not exactly a symphony, more a series of crescendos in tile, brick, sculpted stone and stained glass. Built between 1905 and 1908 by Lluís Domènech i Montaner for the Orfeo Català musical society, it was conceived as a temple for the Catalan Renaixença, the cultural Renaissance of the late 19th century. You can see some of its splendours – such as the main facade with its mosaics, floral capitals and sculpture cluster representing Catalan popular music – from the outside and wander into the foyer to admire the lovely tiled pillars and decor of the cafe and ticket-office area. Best of all, however, is the richly coloured auditorium upstairs, with its ceiling of blue-and-gold stained glass and, above a bust of Beethoven, a towering sculpture of Wagner’s Valkyrie (Wagner was number one on the Renaixença charts). To see this, you need to attend a concert or join a guided tour (which last 50 minutes and start on the hour). To get to the Palau, turn left off Via Laietana into Carrer de Sant Francesc de Paula or Carrer de Sant Pere més Alt, a short way south of Plaça de Urquinaona.