This archaeology museum, housed in what was the Graphic Arts palace during the 1929 World Exhibition, covers Catalonia and cultures from elsewhere in Spain. Items range from copies of pre-Neanderthal skulls to lovely Carthaginian necklaces and jewel-studded Visigothic crosses.
There’s good material on the Balearic Islands (rooms X to XIII) and Empúries (Emporion, the Greek and Roman city on the Costa Brava; rooms XIV and XVII). The Roman finds upstairs were mostly dug up in and around Barcelona. The most beautiful piece is a mosaic depicting Les Tres Gràcies (The Three Graces), unearthed near Plaça de Sant Jaume in the 18th century. Another is of Bellerophon and the Chimera. In the final room, dedicated to the dying centuries of the Roman world, a beautiful golden disk depicting Medusa stands out. The museum has been renovated slowly over recent years, and the displays are now updated with a more modern design and interactive displays.
