Museum of the History of Catalonia (Barcelona)

Museum of the History of Catalonia (Barcelona)


The Museum of the History of Catalonia was created in 1996 with the aim of narrating and disseminating Catalan history from Palaeolithic times to the present day through an abundant collection of objects, relics, artifacts, documents, audiovisual settings and historical recreations of a playful and entertaining nature.

The museum is located in the Palace of the Sea, a building dating back to 1881 that is the only remaining vestige of the Old Port of Barcelona. It has seven permanent exhibition stages of enormous interest.

The first stage, called The Roots, is dedicated to the Lower Palaeolithic period until the end of the 5th century when the Western Roman Empire fell and the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo was born.

The second stage is called The Birth of a Nation and takes place from the year 711, when the Muslims conquered Visigothic Hispania. It goes up to the 12th century, when the conquest of New Catalonia took place.

The third stage is entitled Our Sea and focuses on the conquest of Mallorca and Valencia in the 13th century. It ends with the union with the Kingdom of Castile in 1479.

The fourth stage is known as On the Periphery of the Empire and addresses how Catalonia existed within the Spanish Empire until 1716.

The fifth and sixth stages, called Steam and Nation and The Electric Years, offer a look at Catalan industrialization, political centralization during the 19th century and the arrival of electricity and modernity until 1939, when the Spanish Civil War ended.

The last stage, Defeat and Recovery, shows contemporary Catalan history from the establishment of Francoism to the arrival of democracy.

It is a museum of enormous popularity, and since its inauguration it has been praised for its patrimonial importance and for disseminating Catalan’s immense cultural heritage.
   
 
Location



Museums in Barcelona

Civil Buildings in Barcelona

Religious Buildings in Barcelona