Barcelona, barri a barri A living atlas of the 73 neighbourhoods

les Corts · 21

Pedralbes

Pedralbes grew around a royal monastery founded in 1326 and in the twentieth century was planned as the Güell family's garden city, between the Collserola slopes and the Diagonal.[1][2][3]

Stand before the monastery and look at the pale stone of the walls. On 15 February 2025 the last three Poor Clares left, after almost seven centuries of continuous monastic life. Then walk to the Pavellons Güell: Gaudí designed the gatehouse and stables of an estate that became the Palau Reial.[1][2][4][5]

Pedralbes occupies the lower slope of Collserola in the district of les Corts, and until 1984 it had belonged to Sarrià. It brings together the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes, the Palau Reial and its gardens, Gaudí's Pavellons Güell and part of the university campus on the Diagonal.[3]

Catalan Wikipedia describes it as the highest-level residential zone of Barcelona, with houses with gardens and luxury apartment buildings.[3]

Pedralbes (neighbourhood 21) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Les Corts: les Corts, la Maternitat i Sant Ramon.

Where the name comes from

Etymology: certain[3]

The name comes from Petras Albas, “white stones”, a form documented from 986.[3]

The neighbourhood took its name from the monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes, founded in 1326.[1][2]

Toward Sarrià, Les Corts and the Collserola foothills.

Before the neighbourhood

In the fourteenth century Queen Elisenda de Montcada and James II founded the monastery: building began on 26 March 1326 and the church was consecrated on 3 May 1327. The widowed queen moved in during 1327.[1][2]

Five centuries later, in 1859, Joan Güell i Ferrer bought the Can Custó farmhouse, which his son Eusebi Güell extended into the Finca Güell.[6]

How the streets were made

The garden city the Güells promoted in the twentieth century was, according to Catalan Wikipedia, a relative failure. Today the area is one of houses with gardens and luxury apartment buildings.[3]

The Creu de Pedralbes marks the crossing of Avinguda de Pedralbes and Avinguda d'Esplugues, and the University Campus on the Diagonal was built between 1958 and 1996.[3]

Dates that changed it

  1. 26 March 1326: building begins on the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes.
  2. 3 May 1327: the monastery church is consecrated.
  3. 1859: Joan Güell i Ferrer buys the Can Custó farmhouse, the origin of the Finca Güell.
  4. 1884–1887: Gaudí designs the pavilions and the dragon gate of the Finca Güell.
  5. May 1924: the commission cedes the Palau Reial to the city, which hands it to Alfonso XIII on 12 May.
  6. 1949: parts of the monastery open to the public.
  7. 2010: the Palau Reial hosts the permanent seat of the Union for the Mediterranean secretariat.
  8. 2022: the City Council transfers the Palau de Pedralbes and its gardens to the Generalitat.
  9. 15 February 2025: the last three Poor Clares leave the monastery.

People and collective life

Elisenda de Montcada

Queen consort of James II, she promoted the founding of the monastery and, once widowed, moved there in 1327. Her double-sided tomb, between the church and the cloister, shows her as a crowned queen and as a Franciscan nun.[1][2]

People behind the buildings

Pavellons Güell

Gaudí designed the gatehouse, stables and riding school of the Finca Güell between 1884 and 1887, in brick, glazed ceramic and hyperbolic cupolas.[5]

Palau Reial de Pedralbes

Francesc de Paula Nebot replaced Eusebi Bona at the head of the palace works in 1922. It is a Noucentista building with Tuscan columns and semicircular arches with medallions.[6]

Institutions

Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes

A municipally owned monastery and museum, partly open to the public since 1949. The Poor Clare community lived there until 15 February 2025.[4][2]

Palau Reial de Pedralbes

Permanent seat of the Union for the Mediterranean secretariat since 2010 and owned by the Generalitat since 2022, which plans to make it a second institutional seat.[7][8][6]

Struggles that left a mark

Keeping the Poor Clares in Pedralbes

Demand: A Change.org petition to keep the Poor Clares in Barcelona had gathered more than 960 signatures before they left. The enclosed order requires at least five nuns per monastery, and three remained at Pedralbes.[4]

Outcome: The three nuns left on 15 February 2025.[4][2]

What can still be seen

Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes

The oratory preserves paintings by Ferrer Bassa from 1346, and Elisenda's two-faced tomb stands between the church and the cloister.[1][2]

Pavellons i portes de la Finca Güell

The north pavilions and gates were declared a historic-artistic monument on 24 July 1969; the dragon gate, in iron with glass eyes, evokes the guardian of the Garden of the Hesperides.[5]

The neighbourhood today

Pedralbes had 12,479 residents in 2026, 46.5 residents per hectare, a €46,631 mean census-section income in 2023, 268.5 hectares, and 22.2% of residents held non-Spanish nationality.

Non-Spanish nationality (2026): 22.2%

What is changing

The monastery without its community (February 2025)

On 15 February 2025 the last three Poor Clares left for Vilobí d'Onyar; the building belongs to the City Council. When they left, the archdiocese and the City Council said the monument would stay open to the public. Opening hours and open areas are worth checking before a visit (status as of October 2026).[4][2]

Casa Àsia in the Palau Reial gardens

Rehabilitation works on pavilions 3 and 4 of the Palau Reial gardens for the new Casa Àsia headquarters began in June 2025, planned at 13 months and about 6 million euros. On 17 August 2026 the Foreign Ministry said they were in their last phase and that the facilities would start operating at the end of the year.[9][10]

The Palau de Pedralbes as a second Generalitat seat

The City Council transferred the palace and gardens to the Generalitat in 2022. In November 2025 the Generalitat launched a competition for a comprehensive rehabilitation to turn it into a second institutional seat; the Catalan government plans to draft the project in 2027 and start works from summer 2028.[7][8][6]

Read it on foot

Start: Monestir de Pedralbes · End: Palau Reial de Pedralbes

Walking (excluding stop time): 22 min · 1660 m · Estimated visit (with stops): 57 min

The geometry follows the pedestrian network between the three marked points, but it has not been verified as step-free. Visiting hours are set by each institution and may change. The approach from public transport is not included in the stated distance.

Pedralbes (neighbourhood 21) highlighted. Other neighbourhoods in Les Corts: les Corts, la Maternitat i Sant Ramon.

1
Monestir de Pedralbes
Monestir de Pedralbes, Baixada del Monestir 9
Look for Queen Elisenda's tomb between the church and the cloister: one face shows her as a crowned queen, the other as a Franciscan nun.[1][2][4]
Building of the monastery began on 26 March 1326 and the church was consecrated on 3 May 1327. The last three Poor Clares left on 15 February 2025.[1][2][4]
Coordinates
41.39562, 2.11160 · OpenStreetMap
2
Pavellons Güell
Pavellons Güell, Avinguda de Pedralbes 7
1180 m · 16 min
Look at the iron gate in the shape of a dragon with glass eyes and the brick gatehouse with glazed ceramic and hyperbolic cupolas.[5]
Gaudí designed them between 1884 and 1887 for the Finca Güell. The north pavilions and gates have been a historic-artistic monument since 24 July 1969, and the Càtedra Gaudí was based here from 1968 to 2008.[5]
Coordinates
41.38931, 2.11945 · OpenStreetMap
3
Palau Reial de Pedralbes
Palau Reial de Pedralbes, Avinguda Diagonal 686
480 m · 7 min
Look at the palace's Noucentista façade, with Tuscan columns and semicircular arches with medallions, and at the gardens around it.[6][9][10]
The building commission ceded it to the City Council on 2 May 1924, and the mayor handed it to Alfonso XIII on 12 May. In the gardens, Casa Àsia is rehabilitating pavilions 3 and 4 (works in their last phase in August 2026).[6][9][10]
Coordinates
41.38855, 2.11705 · OpenStreetMap

Sources for this page

Dates, figures and historical claims are linked to the records used for this page.

  1. [1] Viquipèdia (2026). Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  2. [2] Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (2026). Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  3. [3] Viquipèdia (2026). Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  4. [4] Catalan News (2025-01-26). Poor Clares nuns leave Pedralbes monastery after 700 years. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  5. [5] Viquipèdia (2026). Pavellons i Portes de la Finca Güell. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  6. [6] Viquipèdia (2026). Palau Reial de Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  7. [7] Bonart (2025-11-07). The Government will promote the comprehensive rehabilitation of the Palau de Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  8. [8] NacióDigital (2022-02-08). El Palau de Pedralbes es convertirà en la segona seu de la Generalitat. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  9. [9] Casa Asia (2025-06-11). Empiezan las obras de rehabilitación de la nueva sede de Casa Asia en Pedralbes. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  10. [10] Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (2026-08-17). Albares visita las obras de la nueva sede de Casa Asia en Barcelona. Accessed: 2026-10-03.
  11. [11] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2026-01-01). Padró municipal d'habitants (pad_mdbas) — població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  12. [12] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2021). Densitat de població per barri. Accessed: 2026-07-17.
  13. [13] Ajuntament de Barcelona — Open Data BCN (2023). Renda disponible de les llars per persona. Seccions censals. Accessed: 2026-07-17.

Last reviewed: 3 October 2026 · 13 sources consulted

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