Fodor's Expert Review Palau Dalmases
If you can get through the massive wooden gates that open onto Carrer Montcada (at the moment, the only opportunity is when the first-floor café-theater is open), you'll find yourself in Barcelona's best 17th-century Renaissance courtyard, built into a former 15th-century Gothic palace. Note the door knockers up at horseback level, and then scrutinize the frieze—featuring The Rape of Europa—that runs up the stone railing of the elegant stairway at the end of the patio. It's a festive abduction: Neptune's chariot, cherubs, naiads, dancers, tritons, and musicians accompany Zeus, in the form of a bull, as he carries poor Europa up the stairs and off to Crete.
The stone carvings in the courtyard, the 15th-century Gothic chapel, with its reliefs of angelic musicians, and the vaulting in the reception hall and salon are all that remain of the original 15th-century palace. The ground-floor Espai Barroc café features baroque-era flourishes and period furniture. It also hosts... READ MORE
If you can get through the massive wooden gates that open onto Carrer Montcada (at the moment, the only opportunity is when the first-floor café-theater is open), you'll find yourself in Barcelona's best 17th-century Renaissance courtyard, built into a former 15th-century Gothic palace. Note the door knockers up at horseback level, and then scrutinize the frieze—featuring The Rape of Europa—that runs up the stone railing of the elegant stairway at the end of the patio. It's a festive abduction: Neptune's chariot, cherubs, naiads, dancers, tritons, and musicians accompany Zeus, in the form of a bull, as he carries poor Europa up the stairs and off to Crete.
The stone carvings in the courtyard, the 15th-century Gothic chapel, with its reliefs of angelic musicians, and the vaulting in the reception hall and salon are all that remain of the original 15th-century palace. The ground-floor Espai Barroc café features baroque-era flourishes and period furniture. It also hosts jazz, opera concertante, and other musical performances, as well as nightly (at 6, 7:30, and 9:30) flamenco shows.
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