Palau Reial de Pedralbes

Across Avinguda Diagonal from the main campus of the Universitat de Barcelona, set in a lush, green park, is the 20th-century Palau Reial de Pedralbes, which belonged to the family of Eusebi Güell (Gaudí’s patron) until they handed it over to the city in 1926. Then it served as a royal residence – King Alfonso XIII, the president of Catalonia and General Franco, among others, have been its guests. Admission is free from 3pm Sundays and on the first Sunday of the month.

Today the palace houses two museums. The Museu de Ceràmica has a fine collection of Spanish ceramics from the 13th to 19th centuries, plus work by Picasso and Miró. The Disseny Hub is itself the fusion of two collections (Museu de les Arts Decoratives and Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària), and also has a space for temporary exhibitions in La Ribera. The Museu de les Arts Decoratives brings together an eclectic assortment of furnishings, ornaments and knick-knacks dating as far back as the Romanesque period, while the Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària contains some 4000 items that range from 4th-century Coptic textiles to 20th-century local embroidery, with an emphasis on fashion from the 16th century to the 1930s.