Montjuïc is the 173-metre hill overlooking Barcelona's port from the south. The name probably means "mountain of the Jews", after the medieval Jewish cemetery that once stood there. Today it is a large park with museums, gardens and sports facilities, one of the city's most pleasant places.
History
For centuries the hill was a stone quarry and military fortress. It was transformed for the 1929 International Exposition, which gave it its palaces, stairways, fountains and the Poble Espanyol, and then for the 1992 Olympics, with the Olympic ring. The castle was long a prison: Catalan president Lluís Companys was executed here in 1940.
What to see
- The MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia), in the Palau Nacional, with the world's finest collection of Romanesque frescoes, removed from Pyrenean churches, and Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and modernista works. Its terrace overlooks the whole city (see Romanesque).
- The Joan Miró Foundation, in a white building by Josep Lluís Sert.
- CaixaForum, in a former modernista textile mill, with temporary exhibitions.
- The reconstructed Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, a 1929 masterpiece of modernism, home of the Barcelona chair.
- Poble Espanyol, a village of replica buildings and squares from all over Spain, with craft workshops.
- The Olympic ring, with the Lluís Companys Stadium and Palau Sant Jordi.
- Montjuïc Castle, with its walls and spectacular views over the port.
- The gardens: Mossèn Costa i Llobera with cacti and succulents, Laribal, the botanical garden, Joan Brossa and the Mirador de l'Alcalde.
- The open-air Teatre Grec, home of the summer festival (see festivals and events).
- The Magic Fountain, below the Palau Nacional, with its water, light and music show on some evenings, depending on season and drought restrictions.
Getting there
On foot from Plaça d'Espanya, with escalators; by metro and funicular from Paral·lel station; by the port cable car from Barceloneta; or by the Montjuïc cable car from the funicular station up to the castle. City buses and the tourist bus also go there. See also Barcelona's museums.