 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2023) |
The Monastery of Pedralbes, otherwise the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes is a Gothic monastery in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is now a museum, housing permanent exhibitions on its own art and legacy as well as third-party special exhibitions from time to time. The Chapel of St. Michael was restored and re-opened in 2018.
The name of the site in the 14th century was Petras Albas (in the accusative), Latin for "white stones". The original name devolved into the current one.
The monastery was founded by King James II of Aragon for his wife Elisenda de Montcada in 1326. It housed a community of Poor Clares, mostly members of noble families. The queen gave the monastery a series of privileges, including the direct protection of the city of Barcelona, through the Consell de Cent ("Council of the Hundred"), who had the task to defend it in case of danger. Elisenda also built a palace annexed to the monastery, where she lived after her husband's death in 1327. She died there in 1367. The remains of the palace were discovered in the 1970s.
During the Reapers' War of the 1640s and '50s, the nuns were expelled, but later returned. Some still reside in the complex, which was declared a national monument in 1991.
Originally, the monastery (built in white stone, pedres albes in Catalan, hence its name) was defended by a line of walls, of which today only two towers and one gate remain.
The church has a single nave, with rib vaults and a polygonal apse, and houses a Gothic retablo by Jaume Huguet. The façade is characterized by a large rose window.
The cloister has three floors, and a length of 40 meters, with a central garden of orange trees and palms. It is formed by wide arches on columns, whose capitals are decorated with the emblems of the Kings of Aragon and the House of Montcada. The sepulchre of Queen Elisenda, in alabaster stone, is located in one of the cloister's wings.
Also notable is the Chapel of St. Michael, housing several fresco paintings by Ferrer Bassa. Dating to 1346, they show the influence of the Italian painter Giotto.
In the 1990s, the former dormitory housed a permanent exhibition of works from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, with works by Italian Trecento painters, and later works by artists including Rubens, Canaletto, Tintoretto, Velázquez and Fra Angelico (Virgin of Humility, one of his masterpieces). Now these are in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, or the main Madrid home of the collection.
41°23′44″N2°06′44″E / 41.39556°N 2.11222°E
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
Poblet Abbey, otherwise the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet, is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1151, located at the foot of the Prades Mountains, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, in Catalonia (Spain). It was founded by Cistercian monks from France. The main architect was Arnau Bargués.
The Gothic Quarter is the historic centre of the old city of Barcelona. It stretches from La Rambla to Via Laietana, and from the Mediterranean seafront to the Ronda de Sant Pere. It is a part of Ciutat Vella district.
The Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus, is a former Cistercian monastery in the municipality of Aiguamúrcia, Catalonia, Spain. The abbey was erected in the 12th century, in today's municipality of Aiguamúrcia, in the village of Santes Creus, in the province of Tarragona (Catalonia). However, it was in the thirteenth century when Peter III of Aragon expressed his desire to be buried in the monastery and a royal crypt was built for himself and his son, King James II that many of the local nobility established the custom to choose this place for burial. This led the monastery to increase in splendor and greatness thanks to the numerous donations received.
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 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 Maria Cristina, near Pl Espanya, the museum is especially notable for its outstanding collection of romanesque church paintings, and for Catalan art and design from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including modernisme and noucentisme. The museum is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge, Italian-style building dating to 1929. The Palau Nacional, which has housed the Museu d'Art de Catalunya since 1934, was declared a national museum in 1990 under the Museums Law passed by the Catalan Government. That same year, a thorough renovation process was launched to refurbish the site, based on plans drawn up by the architects Gae Aulenti and Enric Steegmann, who were later joined in the undertaking by Josep Benedito. The Oval Hall was reopened for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, and the various collections were installed and opened over the period from 1995 to 2004. The museum was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2004. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.
Barcelona'sculture stems from the city's 2000 years of history. Barcelona has historically been a cultural center of reference in the world. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native language Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official and widely spoken. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture has experienced a rebirth, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona is an international hub of highly active and diverse cultural life with theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums, and high-value architectural heritage.
Jaume Huguet was a Catalan painter.
The Royal Palace of Pedralbes is a building placed in the middle of an ample garden in the district of Les Corts, in Barcelona. From 1919 until 1931 and since 1975 it has been the official residence for the Spanish royal family when they visit the city, although they currently prefer the Palace of Albéniz. It also houses the Ceramic Museum, the Textile and Clothing Museum and the Decorative Arts Museum, both part of the Disseny Hub Barcelona and is the permanent seat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
Vallbona Abbey, otherwise the Monastery of Santa Maria de Vallbona, is a Cistercian nunnery in Vallbona de les Monges, in the comarca of Urgell, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in the early 12th century, and built between then and the 14th century, it is one of the most important monastic sites in Catalonia. Its church represents an example of transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The abbey was declared a national monument on 3 June 1931.
Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sigena is a convent in Villanueva de Sigena, region of Aragon, Spain. Built between 1183 and 1208, the Romanesque church was founded by Queen Sancha of Castile, wife of Alfonso II of Aragon.
The Palau Reial Major is a complex of historic buildings located in Plaça del Rei, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was a residence of the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon. It is composed of three distinct edifices:
Elisenda de Montcada was queen consort of Aragon as the fourth and last spouse of James II of Aragon. She served as Regent or "Queen-Lieutenant" of Aragon during the absence of her spouse from 1324 until 1327. She and James II founded the Monastery of Pedralbes, a Franciscan convent of the Poor Clares. After James II's death in 1327, Elisenda lived adjacent to the monastery for the remaining 37 years of her life.
Catalan Gothic is an artistic style, with particular characteristics in the field of architecture. It occurred in the Principality of Catalonia within the Crown of Aragon between the 13th and 15th centuries, which places it at the end of the European Gothic period and at the beginning of the Renaissance. The term Catalan Gothic is confined to Barcelona and its area of influence, which has its own characteristics.
The Sant Cugat Museum was opened on 23 April 2003; its mission was to oversee the conservation and dissemination of the historic, artistic and cultural heritage of Sant Cugat del Vallès in Catalonia. It is part of the Barcelona Provincial Council Local Museum Network and has two centres: the Sant Cugat Monastery and Casa Aymat plus two other buildings, the Celler Modernista and the Chapel of Sant Domenec. In both areas there are spaces reserved for temporary exhibitions related to art, history and local and universal heritage. In addition, the Museum works to recover the heritage and memory of the town, periodically organising walks that help people discover local history and heritage.
The Museu de les Arts Decoratives, in English Decorative Arts Museum, is a museum opened in 1932 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. Created in 1932, this historic museum contains a rich and diverse collection of European decorative arts, from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. In 1995, the museum extended its boundaries with the incorporation of design, thus converting it into the first and only statewide museum concerned with the preservation and exhibition of Spanish industrial design. The collections of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives were created from an important resource of industrial design and decorative art objects, that included salvers, carriages, furniture, wallpaper, clocks, tapestries and glasswork.
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 value that make up their collections of garments, fabrics and jewellery. Regarding their collection of clothes, the museum allows you to take a journey through the history of textiles, from the 16th century right up to the modern day. The museum's collections include Coptic, Hispano-Arab, Gothic and Renaissance fabrics, as well as embroidery, a section on lacework and a collection of prints. Also worth mentioning is the jewelry collection, comprising approximately five hundred pieces that were made and produced in Spain.
The Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques, in English Graphic Arts Cabinet, is a museum opened in 1942 and located in the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona. Together with Museu de les Arts Decoratives and the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària is part of the Disseny Hub Barcelona.
The Mural paintings of the Conquest of Majorca is a group of Gothic paintings, created on 1285-1290, conserved at the National Art Museum of Catalonia, in Barcelona, Spain.
Sant Salvador de Breda is a parish church and former Benedictine monastery in Breda, Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
The Maritime Museum of Barcelona is located in the building of Drassanes Reials de Barcelona, the royal arsenal of Barcelona, dedicated to shipbuilding between the thirteenth century and eighteenth century. The first mention of these arsenals date from 1243 in a document indicating the boundaries of the city of Barcelona where it mentions its shipyard.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Barcelona:
