Visiting Montjuïc: Incredible Views, Green Spaces & The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

After struggling with the crowds of Las Ramblas and Placa Catalunya, visiting Montjuïc was such a welcome change. I left quite early, getting the Metro, and immediately spotted the two large columns that I'd been told to look out for. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya was immediately visible, and my fears of getting lost - once again - were quelled. 

Once you reach the building, which is in itself a great piece of architecture, you can see across most of Barcelona. When I visited it was quite busy here with tourists taking photos, but if you want a quieter spot for photos you can walk up a little higher and enjoy the view from a number of beautiful free-entry gardens. At 10am on a Sunday morning I only came across one or two other people in them!

Also, as I visited on the first Sunday of the month I got into the museum free of charge. I found this to be an added benefit on top of the great views, lovely surroundings, and of course great art inside. I particularly enjoyed the Civil War photography section in the Modern 2 exhibition, but the older sculptures and wall murals were really interesting too.

If you're an architecture-nerd like me, something I can't really help as my mother is an architect by trade, then you'll probably wish to take a few photos inside the museum too!

The photo below depicts an engraving on the first of four large columns found in front of the Palau Nacional, and, in case you're unfamiliar with deciphering the incredibly unique language that is Catalan, it's a very political landmark. The Four Columns, or Les Quatre Columnes‏, were originally created by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in 1919 to become an icon of Catalanism. Because of this, they were demolished in 1928 during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, when all public Catalanist symbols were systematically removed in order to avoid their being noticed during the 1929 Universal Exposition, which was to take place on Montjuïc.

After years of campaigning, a replica of the columns was erected in 2010 very close to the original site and following Puig i Cadafalch's original plans. Good on the campaigners, I think!

If you go higher up Montjuïc from the Palau Nacional, you can also see the Olympic Stadium, or the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. After a bit of research, I found that Lluís Companys was not a sponsor of the Games, as we may imagine in today's world, but rather the 123rd President of Catalonia, from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.

Companys was leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) political party and, after being exiled after the war, he was captured and handed over by the Gestapo to Franco's dictatorship. He was subsequently executed by firing squad in 1940 and, as they fired, he was reported to have cried 'Per Catalunya!' (For Catalonia!) Companys is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery, near the castle, and his cause of death was tragically given as 'traumatic internal haemorrhage'.

Companys is the only incumbent president in Europe to have been executed, and seventy-two years later the council of war which sentenced him is still in force, according to Wikipedia (correct me if I'm wrong, anti-Wikipedia readers!) I hope that more tourists, like me, look into Les Quatre Columnes and Lluís Companys and understand the deep emotional history that's entrenched throughout Montjuïc. 

It's not simply a beautiful place with incredible views, but also a location that's still haunted by the dark shadows of politics alongside the courage of certain individuals.