Things to do in Catalonia (2026)

The building that housed the Antigua Sociedad del Crédito Mercantil, located at Carrer Ample 11, was built between 1886 and 1900, under the direction of the architect Joan Martorell y Montells. Far removed from modernist eccentricities, Martorell designed a neoclassical building in which one can sense the noucentista elements that dominated Barcelona from the beginning of the 19th century, especially in the restrained use of ornamental elements.The building's combination of monumentality and solemnity conveys the values that the institution wished to reflect through simplicity and the absence of ornate or baroque elements. The building stands out for its large proportions, its symmetry and the distribution of the decorative elements in the central body of the main façade.