Palau Reial de Pedralbes (Royal Palace of Pedralbes)

Palau Reial de Pedralbes (Royal Palace of Pedralbes) Review

Built in the 1920s as the palatial estate of Count Eusebi Güell—one of Gaudí's most important patrons—this mansion was transformed into a royal palace by architect Eusebi Bona i Puig and completed in 1929. King Alfonso XIII, grandfather of Spanish king Juan Carlos I, visited the palace in the mid-1920s before its completion. In 1931, during the Second Spanish Republic, the palace became the property of the municipal government, and it was converted to a decorative arts museum in 1932. In 1936 the rambling, elegant country-manor-house palace was used as the official residence of Manuel Azaña, last president of the Spanish Republic. Today the palace houses the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària (which maintains its Carrer Montcada site for temporary exhibits), the Museu de Ceràmica, and the Disseny Hub ( Design Hub), previously known as the Museu de les Arts Decoratives.