Ateneu Barcelonès

The Ateneu Barcelonès was founded in 1860 as an association dedicated to promoting Catalan culture, science and civic debate, at a time when Barcelona's growing bourgeoisie was seeking intellectual and social institutions independent of both church and state control — it quickly became, and remains today, one of the central institutions of Catalan cultural and intellectual life, hosting talks, debates and cultural programming continuously (barring a forced closure during part of the Franco era) for over 160 years.

Since 1906 it has occupied the Palau Savassona, an 18th-century neoclassical mansion on Carrer de la Canuda just off La Rambla, whose grand original rooms — a ballroom, salons and a garden — were adapted to the Ateneu's cultural and social functions while retaining much of their period architectural character, giving the building itself a status as a protected Cultural Good of National Interest independent of its use as a private members' club.