Palau de la Música: a concert hall of glass and mosaic
The Palau de la Música Catalana is the most extravagant room in Barcelona: walls of glass, a ceiling that pours down light through a great stained-glass bowl, and a stage where the muses step out of the wall. It was built for a choir, and it still holds concerts in the evenings.
- Tickets
- From €20
- Open
- Visits daily, 9:00 to 15:30
- Closed
- Concerts in the evening
- Allow
- 50 minutes for a visit
Barcelona this week
What to see at the Palau de la Música
The skylight
The inverted dome of stained glass in the centre of the ceiling, gold in the middle and blue at the edges, like a sun.
The stage
Sculpted muses who seem to emerge from the back wall in mosaic and relief, and on either side the sculptural groups around the busts of composers.
The front
Mosaic columns, busts of Bach, Beethoven and Wagner, and a great sculpted group of Catalan popular song at the corner.
The Lluís Millet Hall
The foyer upstairs, opening on a balcony of mosaic columns over the street.
Tickets and tours for the Palau de la Música
Sold by GetYourGuide
Barcelona: Palau de la Música Entry Ticket
Entry to the Palau de la Música Catalana for a visit at your own pace.
Included
- Entry to the Palau de la Música Catalana
- A visit at your own pace
More tickets and tours in Barcelona
Visiting the Palau de la Música: hours and admission
Opening hours
- Every day
- Visits from 9:00 to 15:30
- Visits last about fifty minutes, with a guide or on your own with a brochure, and the guided visit is given in several languages.
- Concerts are held in the evening, with their own tickets. Visits may change on days of rehearsals or events.
Who gets in free
- There are no free visits. A self-guided visit of the Palau also gives entry to Sant Pau, the Palau's site says.
Getting there
- Metro
- Urquinaona (lines 1 and 4), three minutes away.
- On foot
- Five minutes from the Cathedral, across the Via Laietana.
- By car
- Barcelona is a low-emission zone, and parking in the centre is scarce and dear. Leave the car and use the metro.
Address
Palau de la Música CatalanaCarrer del Palau de la Música 4
08003 Barcelona, Spain
Entrances
The ticket office and the start of the visits are at the Palau itself, on the Carrer del Palau de la Música.
On the map
Before you go
- Visits run in the morning and early afternoon. The Palau's site lists a guided visit and a self-guided one.
- A concert is the best way to see the hall as it was meant to be seen.
- The building sits in narrow streets: step back into the Carrer de Sant Pere Més Alt to see the front.
A choir's palace of glass
The Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891, commissioned the hall from the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and it was built between 1905 and 1908 on a cramped site in the old town. It was a manifesto of Catalan culture as much as a building.
Domènech used iron and glass so that the hall could be lit by daylight, and covered every surface with mosaic, tile, stained glass and sculpture, made by the best craftsmen of Modernisme.
It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997, together with Domènech's Hospital de Sant Pau. Visits run in the day, and concerts in the evening.
Palau de la Música Catalana: common questions
- What are the opening hours of the Palau de la Música?
- Every day: Visits from 9:00 to 15:30. Visits last about fifty minutes, with a guide or on your own with a brochure, and the guided visit is given in several languages. Concerts are held in the evening, with their own tickets. Visits may change on days of rehearsals or events.
- Is the Palau de la Música ever free?
- There are no free visits. A self-guided visit of the Palau also gives entry to Sant Pau, the Palau's site says.
- What does the ticket include?
- Entry to the Palau de la Música Catalana. A visit at your own pace. It is sold by GetYourGuide.
- Can you visit the Palau de la Música without a concert?
- Yes. It opens for visits in the morning and early afternoon, with a guide or on your own, and holds concerts in the evening.
- Who designed the Palau de la Música?
- Lluís Domènech i Montaner, for the choral society Orfeó Català, between 1905 and 1908.
- How long does a visit take?
- About fifty minutes for a visit. A concert lasts an evening.
What visitors say about the Palau de la Música
Rating from Google
More to see in Barcelona
Sagrada Família
Park Güell
Casa Batlló
La Pedrera (Casa Milà)
Picasso Museum
National Art Museum of Catalonia
Fundació Joan Miró
Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
Things to do near the Palau de la Música
The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.
- 5Get lost in the Gothic Quarter around the Cathedral400 m awayWalk, 1.5 to 3 hours, free to walk, a ticket for the cathedral's roof and choir
- 17Eat your way through Barcelona on a tapas walk500 m awayWalk, 2.5 to 3.5 hours, a tour, or the bill
- 6See how Picasso became Picasso at his Barcelona museum550 m awayMuseum, 1.5 to 2.5 hours, ticket, free at set times with a booking
- 8Climb to the roof of Santa Maria del Mar and wander El Born700 m awayChurch, 1 to 2.5 hours, free to enter at set hours, a ticket for the roof tour
Where to eat near the Palau de la Música
The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in Barcelona. Distances are in a straight line.
- Els Quatre Gats4.1Café and restaurant, Casa Martí250 m away
- Mesón del Café4.5Café, Gothic Quarter500 m away
- Granja Dulcinea4.2Granja, Carrer de Petritxol600 m away
- Granja Viader4.4Granja, Raval650 m away
Hotels near the Palau de la Música
The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in Barcelona. Distances are in a straight line.
- Grand Hotel Central4.5Five-star hotel, Via Laietana350 m away
- El Palace Barcelona4.6Five-star hotel, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes550 m away
- Cotton House Hotel4.6Five-star hotel, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes550 m away
- Mercer Hotel Barcelona4.6Five-star hotel, Gothic Quarter650 m away