History of Tarragona Museum Casa Canals

About Casa Canals

Casa Canals is one of six museum spaces that form the Museu d'Història de Tarragona (MHT) collection and is located between Passeig de Sant Antoni, Carrer Granada and Plaça de Sant Antoni. The house is one of two noble homes open to the public in Tarragona and one of the few noble homes in Tarragona to have been fully preserved to this day.

Casa Canals is a modern era stately home built in the Neoclassical style taking advantage of the existing 2nd Century Roman wall, the house is built into the structure of the wall and has been found to contain a Spanish Civil war (1936 - 1939) Air raid shelter in the basement and has been built on the remains of a 14th Century home.

The building consists of three floors: Ground floor contains parking for carriages, the main entrance and stairway, storage rooms and kitchen. First floor is the noble floor with the ballroom, dining room, bedrooms, chapel, and patio garden. Second floor servants quarters and working space.

The house is in the upper part, Part Alt of Tarragona city with excellent panoramic views over the Port, beach, Roman amphitheatre and coastline.

Casa Canals History

• 7th Century: End of the Roman Empire and Beginnings of Visigoths and later Muslim invasions.
• 15th Century: Archaeological research has documented the existence of an important building on the site with at least two floors and founded on large pointed arches.
• 16th Century: The Medieval structure was renovated and later destroyed during the War of the Reapers (1640-1652).
• 18th Century: The current building was constructed in late 18th Century following the typical layout of a noble house and stately home.
• November 1802: First references of the Canals Family appear in records about hosting Carlos IV de España and consort María Luisa de Borbón from 11 to 15 November 1802 for the inauguration of the port of Tarragona. Casa Canals gave wide panoramic views of the sea from the balconies, which had just been opened in the Roman wall that forms the east exterior wall of the house.
• 1852: The Canals, from Reus, possessed noble titles and were related to other distinguished families of the city.Joaquim Canals marries Maria Antònia Castellarnau. Most of the furniture dates from this period.
• 1872: Maria Antònia Castellarnau is widowed. THE house remains in the possession of the Canals Family.
• 1992: Acquired by the Regional Government of Catalonia who handed it over to Tarragona city council
• 2006: Opened to the public with limited visiting hours.
• 2011: Full time opening under mnagement of Museu d'Història de Tarragona (MHT)

Image Gallery for Casa Canals

Click on any of the 62 images to open full screen gallery player

❮ ❯

Visiting Casa Canals

The Areas of the house that are open for visiting:

• Ground floor: Reception, Staircase to noble floor, Pesebres (Christmas nativity models) display room.
• Nobel floor: The ballroom has neoclassical decoration on the walls and ceiling, probably carried out on the occasion of the royal stay. Also noteworthy are the Elizabethan mirrors and saddlery, as well as the three chandeliers from the first half of the 14th Century. The ends of the ballroom have portraits by Maria Antònia Castellarnau and Joaquim Canals. The family chapel is covered with a dome and the family coats of arms and a Maltese cross appear there. Joaquim Canals was a knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The bedrooms have an antechamber and an alcove, separated by neoclassical arches. The furniture that can be seen in the bedrooms, living rooms and dining room dates from the 18th and 20th Century, with examples of neo-baroque, Louis XV, neoclassical, Alphonse or Elizabethan styles. The romantic patio garden with rockery fountains is not at street level, but on the first floor.
• Second floor servants quarters: Nothing is preserved of the servants quarters but the dome of the chapel can be seen from here. This space today is used to house temporary art exhibitions. When I visited this space contained an exhibition called Is this Desire by Susana Inglada.

The Civil war air raid shelter is not open to the public due to poor condition and partial flooding.

Casa Canals Opening Hours

Summer: 1st April to 30 September

• Tuesday to Friday: 09:30h to 15:90h
• Saturday & Sunday: 10:00h to 15:00h
• Closed: Monday's

Winter: 1st October to 31 March

• Tuesday to Friday: 09:30h to 20:00h
• Saturday: 09:30h to 20:00h
• Sunday and Holiday's: 09:30h to 14:30h
• Closed: Monday's, 24th December, 25th December, 26th December, 31st December, 1st January, 6th January, 1st November

Free Entry:13th, 14th, 20th & 21st May (Weekend of Tarragona Live), International museum day 18th May, 19th August (Sant Magi), 16th September(Nit del Patrimoni), 23rd September (santa Tecla), 13th, 14th & 15th October (Journada Europees de Patrimoni). 30th November (Els Monuments Romans) The last Tuesday of January, February, march, May, October, November and December.

Access closes 30 minutes before final closing time.

Casa Canals HomepageMHT ticket PricesMHT Opening timesSusana Inglada FacebookMHT ticket PricesMHT Opening timesSusana Inglada Facebook

Getting to Casa Canals

Address: Carrer d'En Granada 11, Tarragona. 43004

Where to stay overnight in the Tarragona Casa Canals (MHT)