The Sun of Music: Palau de la Música Catalana

The Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall in the heart of Barcelona, Spain. Designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1905 and 1908 for Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891, this venue has been a heart of music for over a century. Orfeó Català commissioned Domènech i Montaner to create a space that would reflect Catalan identity and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a Catalan architect, delivered a concert hall that would become a masterpiece in the Catalan modernist style.

The building was constructed with elements of traditional Spanish and Arabic architecture, such as the red brick and ironwork, mosaics, stained glass, and glazed tiles. The façade is topped by an allegoric mosaic by Lluís Bru that symbolizes the members of the Orfeó Català. Inside, guests originally entered the palace through two arches supported by thick pillars, not through the foyer. Today, more than half a million people a year attend musical performances in the Palau de la Música Catalana. In 1997, the palace de la Música Catalana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Hospital de Sant Pau.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons