National Art Museum of Catalonia

The MNAC occupies the Palau Nacional built for the 1929 exposition, and its central holding is unmatched: in the 1920s, alarmed by dealers buying frescoes out of remote Pyrenean churches, Catalan institutions organised the removal of entire wall painting schemes using the strappo technique and their reinstallation here on reconstructed apse forms, so visitors walk through a series of twelfth-century church interiors reassembled indoors. The Christ Pantocrator from Sant Climent de Taull is the best known. Beyond that are Gothic altarpieces, Renaissance and baroque work including Velazquez and Zurbaran, and a strong Modernist collection with Casas, Rusinol and Gaudi furniture. The building's dome hall and the terrace over the Magic Fountain are part of the visit.

What you actually see

• The Romanesque apses - twelfth-century frescoes reinstalled on reconstructed forms.
• The Taull Pantocrator - the most famous of the removed paintings.
• The Modernist collection - Catalan painting and Gaudi furniture.
• The terrace - a view down the Montjuic steps over the fountain.

When to go

Year-round; the museum closes on Mondays and offers free entry on Saturday afternoons and first Sundays, which are busy. The collection is large enough to need most of a day.

Honest expectations

The Romanesque section requires context to appreciate and can look like rows of similar apses without it. The building is enormous and tiring to cover. Getting up the hill involves escalators or a walk from Placa Espanya.

Nearby

The Miro foundation and Poble Espanyol are on Montjuic; the Magic Fountain is directly below.