Casa Museu Castellarnau

Updated June 11, 2025

## Casa Museu Castellarnau: Inside Tarragona’s Aristocratic Time Capsule

Carrer dels Cavallers is one of those streets where Tarragona’s history stacks up in layers – Roman, medieval, and aristocratic – all within a few meters of stone. Right in the middle of it you find Casa Museu Castellarnau, a historic house museum that once belonged to one of the city’s most powerful families and today serves as the headquarters of the Museu d’Història de Tarragona.

This is not just another “pretty old house.” Under your feet run Roman walls; above you, mythological frescoes painted for 18th-century nobility. If you’re planning time in Roman Tarragona and want to understand how the city evolved from imperial colony to Catalan power center, Casa Museu Castellarnau is a sharp, focused stop.

> Important update: the official tourism board notes that Casa Castellarnau is closed for renovation works from 11 December 2023 until further notice, so always confirm current status and opening times before you plan a visit.

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## Where Is Casa Museu Castellarnau and What Exactly Is It?

Casa Museu Castellarnau stands at Carrer dels Cavallers, 14, in Tarragona’s historic center.

In the Middle Ages, this narrow street concentrated the city’s elite: the mansions and palaces of the leading noble families lined this stretch of the old town.

Casa Castellarnau itself:

– Origins in the 15th century – The house was built at the beginning of the 1400s and became home to some of Tarragona’s most influential families right through to the 19th century.
– Acquisition by the Castellarnau family – Carles (Charles) de Castellarnau bought the property in the 18th century and remodelled it heavily, giving much of the noble floor its current look in 18th–19th-century style.
– Today’s role – The building is now one of the main heritage spaces of the Museu d’Història de Tarragona and houses both the museum’s headquarters and parts of the city’s heritage department.

Visitor-facing sites consistently describe Casa Museu Castellarnau as a restored aristocratic residence that showcases furniture and decorative objects from the 1700s and 1800s in situ – you’re walking through rooms furnished as they would have been when the family lived here.

Recent review aggregators rate the museum around 4.5 out of 5, with several hundred reviews, which is strong for a relatively compact historic house compared to Tarragona’s headline Roman ruins.

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## A House Built on Roman and Medieval Bones

One of the reasons Casa Museu Castellarnau stands out among Catalan historic houses is what lies underneath the painted ceilings.

### Roman provincial forum under the floor

The basements preserve:

– A section of the southern wall of the Plaça de la Representació, part of the Roman provincial forum’s representation square.
– Remains of the 12th-century city wall, the mur vell, which medieval builders reused as a structural base.

These remains are part of the wider UNESCO-listed archaeological ensemble of Tarraco, which the city’s history museum manages.

### Medieval townhouses and an imperial guest

Before the palace we see today, this plot held a cluster of medieval houses built onto the old wall.

Those houses had their own golden moment: in 1542, Emperor Charles I of Spain (Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor) stayed here, with sources noting that significant refurbishments were made in the area to receive the monarch.

Later, in the 18th century, the Castellarnau family consolidated and transformed these medieval structures into the aristocratic residence you walk through today, reshaping the façade and interior layout into a more unified palace.

### From noble residence to municipal museum

The house remained in private hands until the mid-20th century, when it became municipal property and, ultimately, part of the network of museums that explain Tarragona’s Roman and post-Roman story.

For visitors, this means a rare thing: you’re seeing Roman walls, medieval structures and 18th-century aristocratic taste in one contained building.

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## Inside Casa Museu Castellarnau: Rooms, Collections and Details to Look For

Despite its modest footprint, Casa Museu Castellarnau is dense with detail. Expect roughly 30–60 minutes for a relaxed visit once it reopens, depending on how long you linger in each room.

### The Gothic patio and spiral staircase

On the ground floor you’ll step into a Gothic patio framed by pointed arches from the 14th–15th centuries and a spiral staircase with slender columns and carved capitals from the same period.

This is a good place to pause:

– It shows clearly how a medieval noble house was structured around an internal courtyard.
– The contrast between the austerity of the stone and the later 18th-century exuberance upstairs helps you read the building chronologically.

### The noble floor: ballroom, parlours and family spaces

Head up the winding stairs to the noble floor, where much of the 18th- and 19th-century atmosphere is intact:

– Ballroom with mythological ceiling paintings
– The most emblematic room is the ballroom, whose ceiling is covered in mythological scenes painted in the late 18th century by the Provençal artist Josep Bernat Flaugier.
– Crystal chandeliers, tall mirrors and richly upholstered furniture complete the display of status.

– Parlours and salons
– Several salons show how interior décor evolved between the 1700s and 1800s: colours, fabrics and furniture styles shift as you move from room to room.

– Bedrooms and daily-life details
– Visitors often remark on the size of the beds and the proportions of the rooms – a very visual way to compare daily life then and now.

### The old kitchen and the museum collections

Back at ground level you find:

– A restored historic kitchen, complete with period fixtures, which helps anchor the house in everyday domestic routines rather than only formal receptions.
– The Molas i Agramunt collection, a heterogeneous set of archaeological and ethnographic objects that span a wide chronological range.
– The Quintana inheritance, including a model of the first aeroplane to fly over Tarragona, in 1913 – a neat time jump that links the city’s early aviation history back into this aristocratic setting.

Because Casa Castellarnau also hosts the city’s history museum headquarters, it ties into wider interpretation of Tarragona’s Roman UNESCO sites – amphitheatre, circus, walls and provincial forum – even though those monuments themselves are scattered around town.

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## Practical Tips for Visiting (With Current Closure Caveat)

### Opening status and hours

– The official tourism portal states that Casa Castellarnau is closed for renovation from 11 December 2023 until further notice.
– Before you build this into a tight Tarragona itinerary, check:
– The Tarragona tourism website for reopening announcements and updated hours.
– Local information once in town (tourist office, hotel reception), because reopening dates for renovation projects can shift.

Past visitor information showed different summer and winter schedules, with closures on Mondays and some public holidays, but given the ongoing works those details should be treated as historical rather than guaranteed.

### Tickets and passes

Before closure, Casa Castellarnau was usually included in combined tickets or museum passes for Tarragona’s historical sites, and some dates during the year offered free entry (for example, international museum days).

Because pricing and pass structure can change quickly – especially around a renovation – it’s safer to:

– Check current Museum of History of Tarragona tickets or city cards online.
– Verify on the ground at another museum or the tourist information office once you arrive.

### Accessibility

Accessibility information is mixed and evolving, which is important if you or someone in your group has reduced mobility:

– One detailed guide notes that the building was not fully adapted for reduced mobility, with stairs between floors a significant constraint.
– Other sources mention a lift from one side of the building, but also stress that some areas – such as basement toilets – remain challenging.

Because renovation work can change layouts (for better or worse), it’s wise to:

– Ask specifically about step-free access and lift coverage when the museum reopens.
– Bear in mind that parts of the experience involve historic staircases and narrow passages which may remain difficult to fully adapt.

### How long to allow

Most visitors report spending around 30–60 minutes here, depending on how deeply they engage with the collections and interiors.

If you’re a fan of historic interiors, period furniture or architectural photography, leaning toward the longer end of that range makes sense.

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## Fitting Casa Museu Castellarnau into a Tarragona Itinerary

Even with the current closure, it’s useful to understand how Casa Castellarnau fits into a broader Tarragona plan for when it reopens.

– The house lies in the upper old town, within walking distance of the cathedral, the Roman provincial forum area and routes that connect down toward the Roman amphitheatre and circus.
– Travel guides and Q&A sites note that walking here from the amphitheatre is a pleasant stroll through the old streets, giving you a good feel for the medieval fabric wrapped around the ancient Roman core.

A practical way to structure your day once the museum reopens:

1. Morning: focus on outdoor Roman sites (amphitheatre, circus, Praetorium), when the light is softer and temperatures lower.
2. Midday: lunch around Plaça de la Font or nearby squares in the historic center.
3. Afternoon: step indoors at Casa Museu Castellarnau and, if time allows, combine it with another museum or the cathedral cloister for a quieter, more reflective finish.

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