The Palau del Parlament de Catalunya (English: ''Palace of the Parliament of Catalonia''; es, Palacio del Parlamento de Cataluña) is the assembly hall of the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

, located in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. It was built between 1717 and 1727 as the arsenal of the Ciutadella, to designs of

Jorge Próspero de Verboom Jorge Próspero de Verboom, 1st Marquess of Verboom (9 January 1665 – 19 January 1744), was a Flemish-born military engineer in the service of the King of Spain. On , King Philip V granted him the title of Marquess of Verboom. His father ...

. After the Ciutadella was demolished in the mid-19th century, the building was used for various purposes, including a barracks, a royal palace and an art museum. The palace was the meeting place of the Parliament of Catalonia from 1932 to 1939, when it was dissolved during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. With the re-establishment of Parliament in 1980, the palace was renovated and it once again became the seat of Parliament.

History

The palace was built as the arsenal of the Ciutadella, a

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...

which was built by

Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...

after the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, during which Catalonia had supported his opponent

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

. It was designed by the Flemish military engineer

, and was constructed between 1717 and 1727. The building underwent some minor restoration work later on in the 18th century. The fortifications of the Ciutadella were demolished following the 1868 revolution, but the arsenal, chapel and governor's palace were retained. The rest of the site was landscaped and opened to the public as the

Parc de la Ciutadella The (; "Citadel Park") is a park on the northeastern edge of Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. For decades following its creation in the mid-19th century, this park was the city's only green space. The grounds include the city zoo (on ...

. At this point, the arsenal was converted into a temporary barracks. In 1889, Barcelona's city council agreed to convert the former arsenal into a Royal Palace. The architect was responsible for the alterations the building, which included opening three balconies at the first floor and the decoration of the entire façade. The central part of the façade was also increased in height, and was decorated with a stone escutcheon relocated from the Porta del Socors, one of the gates of the former Ciutadella. In 1900, the building was converted into the ''Museu Municipal d'Art''. The building was too small to house the art museum, so two side wings were built with the same materials as the original building in 1915. The façades of the extensions are decorated with busts of notable Catalan artists and people associated with Catalan art. The area in front of the palace, originally the Ciutadella's parade ground, was converted into a garden in 1927. It includes a pond with a copy of the sculpture '' Desolation'' by

Josep Llimona i Bruguera Josep Llimona i Bruguera (; 8 April 1864, in Barcelona – 27 February 1934) was a Spanish sculptor. His first works were academic, but after a stay in Paris, influenced by Auguste Rodin, his style drew closer to ''modernisme''. He was very proli ...

The Barcelona city council ceded the palace to become the seat of the

on 14 October 1932. The building was renovated by the decorator Santiago Marco, and the inaugural session was held on 6 December 1932. After Barcelona

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

to the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

during the

, the building was converted into a barracks on 26 January 1939. It was converted back into an art museum in 1945, now known as the ''Museu d'Art Modern''. After democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, the Parliament of Catalonia was restored in 1980, and restoration works were undertaken to the palace. The building was eventually donated by the city council to the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...

. The ''Museu d'Art Modern'' continued to occupy part of the palace until September 2004, when its collections were moved to the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...

. Since then, the palace has been used exclusively for parliamentary purposes. The building is listed as a ''Bien Cultural de Interés Local'' (BCIL) on the ''Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural Catalán'' with the code 08019/125.

Architecture

The palace is built in the form of a cross, with a dome at the centre and four courtyards. The building has two floors and an attic, having an area of . It is built out of

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montjuïc ...

stone and red tile. The present parliament chamber was originally designed by Falqués as the Salón del Tron, the palace's Throne Room.

References

{{Authority control Palaces in Barcelona Ciutat Vella Buildings and structures completed in 1727 1727 establishments in Spain Arsenals Barracks Royal residences in Spain Museums in Barcelona Defunct art museums and galleries Seats of Spanish regional legislatures Parliament of Catalonia