Baroque Museum of Catalonia: an artistic journey through the most baroque Manresa
Located in the old school of Sant Ignasi, the Baroque Museum of Catalonia is a unique space that connects art, history and spirituality in a unique environment.
The Catalan Baroque Museum, located on the first floor of the historic complex of the old Sant Ignasi school, is today a national reference for Baroque art and a key facility within the cultural network of Manresa. The space, of great heritage value, has been rehabilitated to become a 21st century museum that combines artistic contemplation with an immersive and multisensory experience.
With a collection of nearly 200 pieces including paintings, sculptures, altarpieces and decorative arts, the museum offers a journey through the Catalan Baroque of the 17th and 18th centuries. It includes works by great names such as Joaquim Juncosa, Antoni Viladomat, Agustí Pujol and Francesc Tramulles, as well as local authors such as Joan Grau and Josep Sunyer, exponents of the Manresa Baroque school. This heritage comes from various museums and public and private collections in the country.
A visit to the museum not only invites contemplation but also experience: through audiovisuals, lights and sounds, the exhibition discourse allows you to connect with the essence of the Baroque — exuberance, emotion and light — in a contemporary setting. The experience culminates in an immersive room that transports the visitor to the symbolic and spiritual universe of Catalan Baroque.
This new stage of the museum is the result of a long institutional journey. Founded in 1896 as an Archaeological and Artistic Museum, it had several locations until it moved to its current building in 1941. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, it has been managed by the Manresa City Council, and has carried out heritage, research and historical dissemination functions. The current transformation —with the support of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya— consolidates it as a reference center for the Baroque and a welcoming point for pilgrims.
A museum within a monument: the old College of Sant Ignasi
The Baroque Museum is located in a building declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest (BCIN): a Jesuit college with a neoclassical structure, central cloister and austere facade, built between the 18th and 19th centuries. Its museum adaptation has managed to preserve its historical spirit while integrating technology and accessibility.
It is also a symbolic space within the framework of the Ignatian Way and a key point of Manresa's heritage.
