Facade of Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

©Esme Fox/Lonely Planet

Museu del Modernisme Barcelona

L'Eixample


Housed in a stuccoed, red-washed 1902 Modernista building by Enric Sagnier, this museum seems like a big Modernista-furniture showroom. Several pieces by Gaudí, including chairs from Casa Batlló and a mirror and chair from Casa Calvet, appear alongside a host of creations by his lesser-known contemporaries. The basement, which has mosaic-coated pillars, bare-brick Catalan vaults and metal columns, is lined with Modernista art, including paintings by Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol, and statues by Josep Llimona and Eusebi Arnau.