Barcelona Culture Guide Sights in Barcelona

Learning about Barcelona’s Culture :

Barcelona is a city rich in culture and traditions. The people living there are very active and they really enjoy participating in cultural events and celebrations. The calendar of events in Barcelona is lively and full of festivities. During those days the city turns into a popular party. The streets and parks of the city become places for cultural expression. Restaurant and bars that are not located in tourist areas generally close on public holidays. If the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, the Monday or the Friday is also considered as a holiday. This is known as “Puente” and extends the weekend over four days. The main reason for this is mainly tourist. Below there is a list of Barcelona’s public holidays.

January 1: New Year’s Day
January 6: The Three Wise Men (Epiphany)
Easter Friday
Easter Monday
May 1: Labor Day
Whitsun (local Barcelona holiday)
June 24: Saint Joan: Summer solstice
August 15: Asunción: Assumption
September 11: Diada: Catalonia’s national holiday
September 24: La Mercè: Barcelona’s patron saint
October 12: Hispanitat: Columbus Day
November 1: Tots Sants: All Saints
December 6: Constitution Day
December 8: Immaculate Conception
December 25: Christmas
December 26: Saint Esteve: Boxing Day

There are many popular events on the day of the patron saint of Barcelona, which is on September 24th. This celebration is considered to be the major festivity of the city. Pyrotechnic festival, the presentation of performers from different parts the country; theatre, music and dance festival in the street are some examples of the way the city celebrates.

These festivities are not only enjoyed by people living in the city but also by foreigners who get pleasure in participating in such popular merriment.

Museums

Barcelona houses a large number of museums which are in charge of taking care of the culture heritage of the city as well as promoting the participation of the people. This is achieved by means of fairs, expositions, exhibitions and presentations. There are many other activities that are performed by museums other than exhibitions and presentations. For example, there are workshops for schools, courses and cycles of lectures, live music, among others. These activities have an important public response. Taking into account the number of visitors, the principal museums are the Picasso Museum and the Joan Miró Foundation.

There are 55 museums in the city; each of them offers a great variety of pieces of arts. History, art, architecture, sports, science, war are some of the subjects present in the museums. Below there is a brief description of the most popular museums in the city.

Picasso Museum

The museum opened in 1963 and from that moment on it has developed and improved thanks to contribution and donations from different part of the world. It is situated on Carrer Montcada, a street famous because there you can see Barcelona’s most stylish medieval palaces. The museum exhibits mainly Picasso’s early work but there you can also find pieces of art from his Cubist period and other masterpieces.

Joan Miró Foundation

Joan Miró foundation is a center for the study of contemporary art. The painter agreed on the creation of this center as long as the work of other artists would be exhibited there. In this way, in addition to Miró’s art collection which includes more than 300 paintings, 153 sculptures and several paintings, there are exhibitions of the work of modern artists. This center is located in Montjuic hill and it has a Mediterranean architectural design.

Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family

This museum is located inside the Gothic Cathedral build by the architect Antoni Gaudi. Over 2,000,000 tourists visit the cathedral every year. The museum offers information about the history of the Holy Family and it also gives account to on the life of its creator, Antoni Gaudi.

La Pedrera

This is another important museum constructed by Antoni Gaudi and it is the second most visited. There you can find a collection of modern art paintings together with renaissance drawings.

Museum Football Club Barcelona

This is the forth most visited museum in Barcelona and it exhibits sporting relics from Barcelona club which date from 100 years. You can have access to the museum by paying one of the two different kinds of admission fee. One kind of admission fee allows visitors to enter the museum and the pitch area. The other type of fee gives you the opportunity to visit the changing rooms, press rooms and you can even sit on the players benches. The tour lasts for 45 minutes and the guides speak in English and Spanish as well. This is a great place to visit especially if you are a football fan.

Barcelona Center of Contemporary Culture

This is the 8th most visited museum and it presents a wide variety of pieces of arts which includes sculptures, paintings and frescos from different parts of the world and from different times in history.

Catalonia History Museum

If you go to this museum you will learn a lot about the history of Catalonia. The exhibits exposed here focus on different periods of Catalonia’s history.

Maritime museum

This museum specializes in the period from1750 to 1850. It exhibits maritime artifacts from Barcelona and other districts.

Catalonia’s Museum of Archaeology

There are attractive exhibitions of archeology relics that date back from prehistoric times. If you are interested in the ancient history of Catalonia this is the right place to visit.