Exterior of the Sala Fundación MAPFRE

Sala Fundación MAPFRE

L'Eixample


Originally built for a rich banking family by Enric Sagnier in 1902–05, the stunning, carefully restored Modernista Casa Garriga i Nogués has been taken over by the charitable cultural arm of Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE. Art and photography exhibitions are shown on the ground floor and in a number of small rooms up the curvaceous marble stairway. Look out for the fine Modernista stained-glass windows in room 8. Guided tours (€5) run Monday to Thursday in Catalan, Spanish and English.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby L'Eixample attractions

1. Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

0.1 MILES

Housed in a stuccoed, red-washed 1902 Modernista building by Enric Sagnier, this museum seems like a big Modernista-furniture showroom. Several pieces by…

2. Casa Lleó Morera

0.15 MILES

Domènech i Montaner’s 1905 contribution to the Illa de la Discòrdia, with Modernista carving outside and a bright, tiled lobby in which floral motifs…

3. Museu del Perfum

0.18 MILES

At the back of the Barcelona-founded Regia perfume shop, this museum tells the story of the scent world through the ages, with 5000 bottles of infinite…

4. Universitat de Barcelona

0.18 MILES

Although a university was first set up on what is now La Rambla in the 16th century, the present, glorious mix of (neo) Romanesque, Gothic, Islamic and…

5. Casa Amatller

0.18 MILES

One of Puig i Cadafalch’s most striking flights of Modernista fantasy, Casa Amatller combines Gothic window frames and Romanesque flourishes with a…

6. Fundació Antoni Tàpies

0.19 MILES

The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is both a pioneering Modernista building (completed in the early 1880s) and the major collection of leading 20th-century…

7. Casa Batlló

0.19 MILES

One of Europe's strangest residential buildings, Casa Batlló (built 1904–6) is Gaudí at his fantastical best. From its playful facade and marine-world…

8. Plaça de Catalunya

0.28 MILES

At the intersection of the old city and L'Eixample, busy Plaça de Catalunya is the city's central transport hub, both for buses and trains, and a…