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Plaça de Francesc Macià (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpɫasə ðə fɾənˈsɛsk məsiˈa]) is a square in Barcelona, Catalonia,
Located in one of the main business areas of the city, it is one of the most transited points of Barcelona. It is crossed by Avinguda Diagonal and several other major thoroughfares: Avinguda de Josep Tarradellas, Travessera de Gràcia, Carrer del Comte d'Urgell and Avinguda de Pau Casals. It is part of the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district, even though it borders two other districts of Barcelona: Les Corts and Eixample.
It is named after Francesc Macià i Llussà (1859-1933), Catalan president during the Second Spanish Republic who proclaimed a short-lived Catalan Republic.
The central part of the square contains a pond modelled after the shape of Minorca, the birthplace of its architect, Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí, as well as femenine sculpture called Joventut ("youth") designed by Josep Manuel Benedicto, added in 1953.
Museu Etnològic i de les Cultures del Mon - MUEC - Barcelona
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The monastery was founded by King James II of Aragon for his wife Elisenda de Montcada in 1326. It housed a community of Poor Clares, mostly members of noble families. The queen gave the monastery a series of privileges, including the direct protection of the city of Barcelona, through the Consell de Cent ("Council of the Hundred"), who had the task to defend it in case of danger. Elisenda also built a palace annexed to the monastery, where she lived after her husband's death in 1327. She died there in 1367. The remains of the palace were discovered in the 1970s.
During the Catalan Revolt (1640), the nuns were expelled, but later returned. A small number of nuns still reside in the complex. The monastery was declared a national monument in 1991.
Originally the monastery (built in white stone, pertas albes in Catalan, whence its denomination) was defended by a line of walls, of which today only two towers and one gate remain.
The church has a single nave, with rib vaults and a polygonal apse, and houses a Gothic retablo by Jaume Huguet. The façade is characterized by a large rose window.
The cloister has three floors, and a length of 40 meters, with a central garden of orange trees and palms. It is formed by wide arches on columns, whose capitals are decorated with the emblems of the Kings of Aragon and the House of Montcada. The sepulchre of Queen Elisenda, in alabaster stone, is located in one of the cloister's wings.
Also notable is the Chapel of St. Michael, housing several fresco paintings by Ferrer Bassa. Dating to 1346, they show the influence of the Italian painter Giotto.
The former dormitory houses a permanent exhibition of painters such as Rubens, Canaletto, Tintoretto, Velázquez and Beato Angelico (Virgin of the Humility, one of his masterworks).