Description

The Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes is an ensemble of gothic monuments situated in the Les Corts-Pedralbes district. This monastery was founded by king Jaime II and his spouse Elisenda Montcada in 1326 and only later inaugurated with a solemn mass on 3rd May 1327.

It housed a community of nuns belonging to the order of St Clare, whose members were for the most part daughters of noblemen. The queen took particular interest in this monastery which she granted with several privileges. Among these, the monastery was held directly under the City’s wing protected by the Consell de Cent, which had sworn to defend it from danger. Elisenda herself had an additional palace adjoined where she moved to after the passing of her spouse in 1327 and resided until the day of her death in 1364. The remnants of this palace, which the queen required in her will were to be destroyed after her death, were only discovered in the 70s.

In 1931 the monastery was declared a Historical and Artistic Monument with some portion of it to later form part of the city’s Museum of History. The museum preserves vast collections of items all related to the nuns’ daily routine and also endowments that the nuns would receive or that the community would acquire to embellish the monastery, in particular places of worship, such as the church. It is mostly compiled of paintings, ceramics, furniture, silverware, liturgical objects, textiles and scrolls.

In 1993 an area of the monastery was granted to the city to host the collection of Thyssen-Bornemisza’s paintings up until recently when this was moved to the MNAC, National Museum of Arts of Catalunya.

A small community of nuns continues to reside in an adjacent building.

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