Ethnological & World Cultures Museum Barcelona Montcada Site

About Barcelona Ethnological & World Cultures Museum Montcada Site

The Barcelona Ethnological and World Cultures Museum, Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món, has two sites, the Montjuïc Ethnological Museum and the larger site in Montcada Street, located in the Born neighbourhood. Here I detail the Montcada street site.

The Montcada site can be divided into four categories, Africa, Oceana, Asia and America.

• Africa: This section of the museum has ceremonial statues and masks from the Fang, Dogon, Yoruba, Baule, Bembe, Songye, Bambara and Pende people with some 64 pieces from across Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.
• Oceana: Comprising of some 76 pieces from expeditions to Papua New Guinea and Australia by the Folch Foundation. Including art and statues from the settlements around the river Sepik and from the river Karawari caves.
• Asia: 250 pieces representing various Asian cultural and artistic traditions from Gandhara Buddhist images to art from Tibet and Japan. The cultures of India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet, Burma, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, China and Korea are all represented.
• America: 138 pieces from Pr-Colombian America from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Ceramic funerary figures from tombs in Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit, masks from Mezcala, spaces dedicated to the Mayan culture, ceramics from the cultures of the Nazca and Mocheles valleys, Valdivia Statuettes and outstanding pieces of gold work and textiles from the Chimu and Chancay cultures.

Barcelona Ethnological and World Cultures Museum History of the Buildings

Located in Casa Mora, the Marquès de Llió's medieval merchant's house. It is a large residential mansion originally from the second half of the 13th century in carrer de Montcada near the historic port of Barcelona.

The site was originally farmland and in 1705 was acquired by the father of the first Marquès de Llió and has since undergone successive remodels to expand the original farm buildings into a palatial complex for one of Barcelona's elite noble families.

The Noble staircase of the patio and current balconies as well as the front façades onto Montcada street and Barra de Ferro Street were rebuilt. The entrance portal is also from the 1705 remodel.

The building was acquired by Barcelona city council in 1955 and partial restoration was undertaken till 1969. From 1982 till 2008 it housed the Barcelona Textile Museum then till 2008 the Barcelona Design Museum.

Next to Casa Mora is Casa Nadal, another merchant's mansion dating from the 14th century with a typical layout of rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Casa Nadal was acquired by Barcelona city council in 1967 and begun conservation work in 1971. From 1997 to 2010, the building housed the Barbier-Mueller Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Barcelona.

Since 2015 the Barcelona Ethnological Museum in Montcada street occupies both Casa Mora and Casa Nadal, reopening in 2017 after conservation work to the buildings. Noteworthy are the magnificent restored ceilings and exposed stonework.

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Visiting Barcelona Ethnological & World Cultures Museum Montcada Site

My recommendation is to allow one to two hours to fully explore the museum and take advantage of the fact that the entrance ticket also includes the Montjuïc site.

Barcelona Ethnological and World Cultures Museum Opening Hours

• May 1st to September 30th (Summer): 10:00h to 20:00h Tuesday to Sunday
• October 1st to April 30th Winter: 10:00h to 19:00h Tuesday to Sunday
• Closed: Monday (except holidays), January 1st, January 6th, May 1st, June 24th, December 25th & December 26th.

Barcelona Ethnological and World Cultures Museum Free Days

• Every Sunday: from 15:00h to 19:30h
• First Sunday of every month: 10:00h to 19:30h
• 12 February (St. Eulalia festival), 16 and 18 May (International Museum Day), 24 September (La Merce festival)

Barcelona Ethnological and World Cultures Museum Tickets

• The Ticket office closes 30 minutes before the museum closing time.
• Tickets are for both the Montcada and Montjuic Barcelona Ethnological Museums.
• Tickets can be purchased in reception or via the museum website.

Getting to Barcelona Ethnological & World Cultures Museum Montcada Site

Address: Carrer de Montcada 12-14, Barcelona. 08003

Nearest TMB Metro is Jaume I on the yellow (L4) line. Use a T-Casual or Hola-Barcelona travel card.

The Ethnological & World Cultures Museum Barcelona can be found in Montcada street opposite the Picasso Museum.

Where to stay overnight in the Montcada Street Ethnological Museum