The Palau de la Música Catalana ("Palace of Catalan Music") in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, is a concert hall built between 1905 and 1908, designed by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. It was inaugurated in 1908, and its style is known as modernisme, the local term to design the Art Nouveau, whose most noteworthy practitioner was Antoni Gaudí.

The Palau de la Música Catalana was built to be the concert hall of the Orfeó Català ("Catalan Choir"), the most important choir in Catalonia in the begining of the XXth century. The project was financed by this institution, principally, but also by the donations of the well-living bourgeoisie in the city.

Dueing to the wealth circumtances and the increasing sympathy shown by industrialists and bourgeoisie to the Catalan nationalism, Montaner was asked for a national, symbolist architecture and building. So he added the traditional ceramics and "maons", and asked other well-known Catalan artists to work with him. As a consequence, the Palau shows a wide variety of techniques and materials, both inside and outside.

In 1997, it was added as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Send by: Gh0st