Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

Catalonia's national art museum is more than just a physical palace; it's also a temple to a region's and people's history, culture, and spirit. The MNAC features the world's best collection of Romanesque frescoes and devotional sculptures, the majority of which were saved from abandoned chapels in the Pyrenees. Taking the delicate paintings down from disintegrating walls, constructing supports in the same precise designs as the places they came from (vaults, arches, windows), and rehanging them was an incredible achievement of restoration. Take a minute to examine what the collection symbolizes on a larger scale as you stroll around and marvel at the incredible spectrum of art, encompassing styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, and Modernist.

Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan) was ruthlessly suppressed by Francisco Franco's fascist administration, and its strong culture was regarded as a danger. The fact that this collection survived, and that Catalan Modernism is so daringly, and subversively distinctive, demonstrates the region's persistence, and the creative minds of a people who refused to let go of their culture.

Location: Palau Nacional, Parc de Montjuic, Barcelona, Spain

Website: mac.cat