The Palau Reial de Pedralbes (; en, "Pedralbes Royal Palace"; Spanish: "Palacio Real de Pedralbes") is a building placed in the middle of an ample garden in the

district of Les Corts Les Corts () is one of the ten districts into which Barcelona, Spain has been divided up since 1984, numbered IV. It was created in 1897 out of two former municipalities: Les Corts de Sarrià and some parts of Sarrià (the remaining of which went ...

, 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 ...

. From 1919 until 1931 it was the residence for the Spanish Royal Family when they visited the city. It houses the Museu de la Ceramica (ceramic museum),

Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària The Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària, in English Textile and Clothing Museum, is a museum opened on 1982 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. The museum possesses countless objects and pieces of major artistic and historical va ...

and Museu de les Arts Decoratives (interior design museum), both part of the

Disseny Hub Barcelona The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Catalan, English: "Barcelona Design Museum"), is a center for Barcelona's Institute of Culture, which works to promote better understanding and good use of the design world, acting as a museum and laboratory. It ...

and is the permanent seat of the

Union for the Mediterranean The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; french: Union pour la Méditerranée, ar, الإتحاد من أجل المتوسط ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the M ...

(UfM).

History and description

The palace has its origins in the old Masia ( mas or farmer's house) de Can Feliu, from the 17th century.Jardins del Palau de Pedralbes
/ref> The corresponding land was acquired by the count

Eusebi Güell Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, 1st Count of Güell (; 15 December 1846 – 8 July 1918) was a Catalan entrepreneur who profited greatly from the industrial revolution in Catalonia in the late 19th century. He married Luisa Isabel Lopez y Bru —a d ...

in 1872 that at that time it was already known by the name of Torre Güell, along with the neighbouring Can Cuiàs de la Riera. Together they formed the Finca Güell, an extensive parcel of land (30,000 m²). The Can Feliu building was remodeled by the architect Joan Martorell i Montells, who built a Caribbean-style small palace, together with a Gothic Revival-style chapel and surrounded by magnificent gardens. Later the building remodeling was given to Antoni Gaudí in 1887, together with the construction of a surrounding perimeter wall and the side entry pavilions. Gaudí also partially designed the gardens surrounding the palace, placing two fountains and a pergola and planted many Mediterranean plants like

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm ...

cypress tree Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the la ...

s, magnolias,

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garde ...

and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

. The Font d'Hércules (

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

fountain) still exists today on site, restored in 1983;Font Hércules by Gaudí
/ref> it has a bust of Hercules on top of a pillar with

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

's shield and a spout in the shape of a

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most ...

Torre Güell (Can Custó) en Pedralbes, Barcelona

Eusebi Güell gave the house and garden to the Royal family, as a thank you for his noble title of Count given to him, in 1918. The house was then remodeled to become a royal palace. The work was done from 1919 to 1924 by the architects Eusebi Bona and Francesc Nebot.Art públic
a la web de
ajuntament de Barcelona
/ref> The palace is formed by a central building four stories high, with a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

on the back side and two three stories high side wings that form a curve with the front facade towards the front. The outside facade is done in the

Noucentisme Noucentisme in Catalonia (, ''noucentista'' being its adjective) was a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception ...

movement style with

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...

columns forming two porches, with round arches and medallions and jars on the top. The interior of the building is of many styles both in decoration as in furniture, going from

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

style to contemporary styles. The gardens were designed by Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí, from a design that included, in a geometrically decorative area, many of the trees already present, a pond with many decorative elements, Gaudi's fountain, bamboo benches, three lighted fountains by

Carles Buïgas Carles Buïgas i Sans (18 January 1898 in Barcelona – 27 August 1979 in Cerdanyola del Vallès) was a Catalan architect, engineer, inventor and author. Biography Buïgas was born into an educated family in Barcelona, son of the architect ...

, the same designer of the Magic Fountain in

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 ...

and many statues such is the one of

Queen Isabella II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

with her son

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

on the front of the palace, a work of Agapit Vallmitjana. On 8 June 1926, the Baron of Viver, Mayor of Barcelona, ceded the Palace of Pedralbes and its grounds to the Royal Patrimonio Nacional, and the King of Spain and his family made use of it. In 1929, the Royal Family housed to the Royal Palace of Pedralbes on the occasion of the

1929 Barcelona International Exposition The 1929 Barcelona International Exposition (also 1929 Barcelona Universal Exposition, or Expo 1929, officially in Spanish: ''Exposición Internacional de Barcelona 1929'' was the second World Fair to be held in Barcelona, the first one being i ...

. The king used it for the last time in January and May 1930, during his last visits to the city. With the

second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

's proclamation in 1931, it became property of the city government, which decided to make it a decorative arts museum, inaugurated in 1932. During Francisco Franco's regime it was used as a residence for Franco during his visits to the city. In 1990 the Museu de Ceramica was placed at the palace. File:Gaudí - Font d'Hèrcules.jpg, ''Font d'Hércules'', by Antoni Gaudí File:Pedralbes09.jpg, ''Isabella II showing her son, Alfonso XII'', by

Agapit Vallmitjana i Barbany Agapit Vallmitjana i Barbany (24 March 1832, Barcelona – 25 November 1905, Barcelona) was a Spanish sculptor, in the Realist style. His brother was also a sculptor, with whom he usually collaborated.Cristina Rodríguez Samaniego, Irene Gra ...

File:Union for the Mediterranean flags.JPG, Flags of UfM members, at the palace entrance

The Royal Chambers

The Palau de Pedralbes and by extension the Royal Chambers which include

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

's bedroom, and Victoria Eugenia's waiting room and chamber, were constructed between 1919 and 1924. The architects Eusebi Bona and Francesc de Paula Nebot were commissioned to build this home for the King and his family during their brief and sporadic visits to

. Alfons XIII's chamber, and the waiting room and chamber of Victòria Eugènia, were added to the itinerary of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives exhibit after the fall of the monarchy, when the Royal residence first opened its doors in 1932. The public was now able to view the three chambers which had been left in their original conditions in regards to wall murals and furniture, by the former occupants who had been sent into exile. Despite all of the political changes that the building has passed through, (monarchy, republic, civil war, dictatorship, monarchy) that could have led to changes in the construction of the Palau de Pedralbes, the Royal chambers have been preserved almost completely in their original state. The spaces, decorated by King Alfons XIII and his wife Queen Victòria Eugènia in their own personal styles and using their own financial resources, still carry the stamp of their former occupants. During the 1920s, the winds of modernity arrived in Barcelona with

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

's Barcelona Pavilion at the

. The King visited the exhibit and was honoured with a personal tour by the architect himself. Despite these new influences, the decoration of the Royal chambers, which was harmonious with some very interesting furnishings, was conceived using clear historical parameters under the direction of a conservative aristocrat anchored in the past.The Royal Chambers
at

References

Bibliography

*AA.VV.: ''Art de Catalunya'', Edicions L'isard, Barcelona, 1998, . *AA.VV.: ''Història de l'art català'', Edicions 62, Barcelona, 2005, . *Manuel García Martín: ''Estatuària pública de Barcelona'', Catalana de Gas y Electricidad S.A., Barcelona, 1985, .

External links

Disseny Hub Barcelona website

Nature in Palau Reial Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palau Reial De Pedralbes Royal residences in Spain Palaces in Barcelona Buildings and structures completed in 1924 Museu de Ceramica Disseny Hub Barcelona