Renowned Catalan art collector and talented modernist sculptor Frederic Mares first exhibited to the public part of the accumulated work in 1944 in upper Raval, that was the first step towards the creation of this museum. Two years later he gives municipal authorities a complete collection of sculptures, paintings, icons and household items.
The museum is located in an old Gothic palace with a cozy courtyard, where to rest, drink coffee and catch wifi. Few people know, that in medieval Barcelona, within these walls, at first there was the residence of the counts who came to visit the kings, and later the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition.
The museum has three floors. exhibits on display at the bottom of the Iberian times to the beginning of the XV century, including works by famous sculptors of Castile and Aragon and a large collection of early Christian art, crucifixes and crosses in the Gothic style, the second - the sculptures and paintings, started in the XV-XIX centuries mainly on religious themes.
On the third floor you will find a "Sentimental Museum", where exhibited housewares past eras. the keys, locks, dishes, clock, irons, instruments, fan, hairpins, crests, studs, bead, perfume bottles, footwear, Ornaments made of hair, postcards, pictures of real people from photo shops that time and much more. If you like to consider such items of everyday life, the, likely, this museum is for you. Besides, the memorial library of the museum presents the work of Mares, which were also donated them to the city.
The museum is not very popular, there are always a few people. On Sunday after 15-00 the entrance is free. In normal times - 4,20 €.
From Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 19-00, on Sunday with 11-00 to 20-00
