Barcelona Guide
Barri Gòtic
Palau de la Generalitat
Address: Plaça de Sant Jaume; entrance on c/Sant Honorat
Opening time: Tours second and fourth Sunday of each month, 10am–2pm, every 30–60min
Price: free, passport or ID required
Telephone: 934 024 600
The Palau de la Generalitat, traditional home of the Catalan government, was where the short-lived Catalan Republic was proclaimed in April 1931. Begun in 1418, this presents its best – or at least its oldest – aspect around the side on c/del Bisbe, where the early fifteenth-century facade by Marc Safont contains a spirited medallion portraying St George and the Dragon. Opening off a beautiful cloister on the first floor are the intricately worked chapel and salon of Sant Jordi (St George, patron saint of Catalunya as well as England), and an upper courtyard planted with orange trees, overhung by gargoyles and peppered with presidential busts.
You can visit the interior on guided tours, which last about an hour, and include an introductory video about the Catalan state and its history. Only one or two of the tours each day are conducted in English. The Generalitat is also open to the public on the Dia de Sant Jordi, or Saint George's Day (April 23; expect a two-hour wait), which has been conflated with a Catalan version of St Valentine's Day – it's traditional to exchange books and roses, available from stalls on Plaça de Sant Jaume and the Ramblas. It's also usually open for visits on two other public holidays, September 11 and September 24.