The palace was built as the arsenal of the Ciutadella, a star fort which was built by Philip V of Spain after the War of the Spanish Succession, during which Catalonia had supported his opponent Archduke Charles. It was designed by the Flemish military engineer Jorge Próspero de Verboom, and was constructed between 1717 and 1727. The building underwent some minor restoration work later on in the 18th century. The fortifications of the Ciutadella were demolished following the 1868 revolution, but the arsenal, chapel and governor's palace were retained. The rest of the site was landscaped and opened to the public as the Parc de la Ciutadella. At this point, the arsenal was converted into a temporary barracks. In 1889, Barcelona's city council agreed to convert the former arsenal into a Royal Palace. The architect was responsible for the alterations the building, which included opening three balconies at the first floor and the decoration of the entire façade. The central part of the façade was also increased in height, and was decorated with a stone escutcheon relocated from the Porta del Socors, one of the gates of the former Ciutadella. In 1900, the building was converted into the Museu Municipal d'Art. The building was too small to house the art museum, so two side wings were built with the same materials as the original building in 1915. The façades of the extensions are decorated with busts of notable Catalan artists and people associated with Catalan art. The area in front of the palace, originally the Ciutadella's parade ground, was converted into a garden in 1927. It includes a pond with a copy of the sculpture Desolation by Josep Llimona i Bruguera. The Barcelona city council ceded the palace to become the seat of the Parliament of Catalonia on 14 October 1932. The building was renovated by the decorator Santiago Marco, and the inaugural session was held on 6 December 1932. After Barcelona fell to the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, the building was converted into a barracks on 26 January 1939. It was converted back into an art museum in 1945, now known as the Museu d'Art Modern. After democracy returned to Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the Parliament of Catalonia was restored in 1980, and restoration works were undertaken to the palace. The building was eventually donated by the city council to the Generalitat de Catalunya. The Museu d'Art Modern continued to occupy part of the palace until September 2004, when its collections were moved to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Since then, the palace has been used exclusively for parliamentary purposes. The building is listed as a Bien Cultural de Interés Local on the Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural Catalán with the code 08019/125.
Architecture
The palace is built in the form of a cross, with a dome at the centre and four courtyards. The building has two floors and an attic, having an area of. It is built out of Montjuïc stone and red tile. The present parliament chamber was originally designed by Falqués as the Salón del Tron, the palace's Throne Room.
