Palau de Mar

Barcelona


Looming over the waterfront, this huge brick edifice was built in the 1880s as a storage depot for goods arriving from the port. Revitalised in the city's pre-Olympic makeover, the palau today houses an excellent history museum, the Museu d’Història de Catalunya (with a rooftop restaurant, 1881, opening to a panoramic terrace), plus street-level eateries and bars, including innovative microbrewery BlackLab.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Barcelona attractions

1. Museu d’Història de Catalunya

0.02 MILES

Within the revitalised 1880s Palau de Mar, this excellent museum travels from the Stone Age through to the arrival of Modernisme in Catalonia and the…

2. Església de Sant Miquel del Port

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Dating from 1755, this sober baroque church was the first building completed in Barceloneta. Built low so that the cannon in the then Ciutadella fort…

3. Casa de la Barceloneta

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Devoted to the history and culture of the barri (with displays in Catalan), this tiny cultural centre occupies a brick-walled 1761 building that's a prime…

4. El Cap de Barcelona

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An icon by the waterfront, this eye-catching 15m-high primary-coloured sculpture was designed by famous American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein for the 1992…

5. Moll d'Espanya

0.21 MILES

The heart of the redeveloped harbour is Moll d'Espanya, a former wharf linked to Moll de la Fusta by a wave-shaped footbridge, Rambla de Mar, which…

6. Edifici de Correus

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Designed by architects Josep Goday and Jaume Torres in the 1920s, Barcelona's main post office building is filled with Noucentista paintings and crowned…

7. El Fossar de les Moreres

0.29 MILES

Opposite the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar's eastern flank, an eternal flame burns brightly over a steel arch and an apparently anonymous sunken square:…

8. Edifici de Gas Natural

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The work of Enric Miralles, completed in 2005, this shimmering glass waterfront office tower is only 86m (20 storeys) high, but remains extraordinary for…