Casa Museu Nuria Pla

The Nuria Plan house museum: from laboratory to museum of Baroque furniture

The Nuria Pla House Museum, located in the former Ravetllat-Pla Tuberculosis Research Institute in Barcelona, now houses one of the most unique collections of antique furniture in Spain. Thanks to the passion and dedication of Nuria Pla Monseny (1916-2011), this collection has become an invaluable vestige of Spanish furniture from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The diversity, quality of the pieces, and rarity of their typology reflect the owner's love for the history and craftsmanship of the Iberian Peninsula. But the house offers more than just furniture.

A rural estate considered a cultural asset of local interest

Around the 1920s, Dr. Ramon Pla Armengol (Lleida 1880 - Barcelona 1956), father of Nuria Pla, after years of research and the development of a theory together with the veterinarian Joaquim Ravetllat (1871-1923), had what would become his family residence, Rabillado-Plan, built.

Inspired by the traditional Catalan farmhouse, but also by the Noucentista movement, the house designed by architect Adolf Florensa (1889-1968) boasts two façades in completely different architectural styles due to its dual use until the late 1980s: as a family residence and also as a pharmaceutical laboratory. This laboratory produced antituberculosis reconstituting serums that were exported to more than 20 countries, allowing Nuria Pla to amass a considerable fortune which she later invested in her true passion: furniture collecting.

A tour of the Nuria Plan collection

Such was her passion that for over six decades , the collector personally amassed more than 800 objects through travels and visits to antique dealers. Her discerning eye and extensive knowledge allowed her to assemble a collection distinguished by the authenticity and excellent state of preservation of most of its pieces. The collection currently comprises Renaissance and Baroque pieces from the Spanish period, with a particular emphasis on traditional styles and furniture of both vernacular and more sophisticated character. Although the collection's initial aim was always to achieve a comprehensive representation of Spanish art, it eventually expanded to include a number of foreign pieces of equally extraordinary quality.

A legacy for the future

The Nuria Pla House Museum invites you to discover a different way of approaching art and culture. It does so through something as everyday and representative as furniture; because through materials, techniques, and decorations, we can find a reflection not only of tastes, but also of the values and ideals of past societies.

The house, managed by the Ramon Pla Armengol Foundation, houses not only Nuria Pla's collection of Spanish furniture, but also the space occupied by the pharmaceutical laboratory of her father, the doctor and researcher in infectious respiratory diseases, Ramón Pla Armengol.

Schedules and visits

Thursday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Ground floor tours | 10:30 and 12:30

Includes a guided tour of the following spaces:

• The bloodletting room and the old laboratory.
• Four rooms with pieces of popular peninsular and Catalan furniture art from the 17th and 18th centuries.
• The open-plan room with luxury furniture and art pieces.

Visits on the first floor | 11:30 am

Includes a guided tour of the following spaces:

• The library of the former Institut Ravetllat-Pla with original furniture and instruments from that era.
• The office of Dr. Pla y Armengol.
• The rooms of the furniture art collection with peninsular and foreign pieces.
• The rooms with bargueños, cabinets and buffets, among other pieces.

Practical information

• To ensure your visit, it's best to book tickets in advance through our website.
• The tours are always accompanied and explained by a guide.
• Duration: Approx. 50 minutes
• Languages: Catalan/Spanish/English (on request).
• More information and reservations: [email protected] - 93 170 17 97.
• Private visits for groups (10 or more attendees): [email protected] - 93 170 17 97.

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