Convent de Sant Francesc de Paula de Granollers

Convent de Sant Francesc de Paula de Granollers is a former Minim friary and church standing in the center of Granollers, a town in Catalonia roughly thirty kilometers north of Barcelona. Over nearly four and a half centuries it has served as a monastery, a prison, a school, and now a cultural center, making it one of the more layered heritage buildings in town.

Where exactly is it?

The building sits in Granollers' historic quarter, on Carrer Corró, next to the Can Pedrals library, with a side entrance on Carrer Antoni Espí i Grau. It was first built just outside the medieval town walls, near the old Corró gate, along the road toward Vic — ground long since absorbed into the compact modern town center.

How did the convent come about?

The friary was founded in 1578 by the Order of Minims, the religious order established by Saint Francis of Paola. The Perpinyà family, a local household, donated the land for the new foundation — a common way of underwriting monastic building projects at the time. The community lived and worked here for well over two and a half centuries, until 1835, when Spain's sweeping laws suppressing religious orders brought monastic life at the site to an end.

What happened to the building after the friars left?

Once the friars were gone, the convent building changed purpose more than once, serving at different points as a prison and later as a school. The adjoining church, however, kept functioning as a place of worship — until 1936, when its interior was destroyed by fire amid the unrest surrounding the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, a fate shared by numerous other churches across Catalonia that year.

What does the complex look like today?

The church was built as a single nave without a transept, closed off by a flat apse, with four side chapels opening onto the main hall — a layout typical of the classicizing style that drew on ancient architectural models. In the 1950s the whole complex underwent a substantial rebuild, designed by Catalan architects Josep Maria Martorell and Oriol Bohigas, both of whom would go on to shape much of Barcelona's later architecture. The work wrapped up in 1956, reopening the building under an entirely new identity: the Casa de Cultura, Granollers' municipal cultural center.

What can visitors see on site?

Today the former church retains its plain, restrained exterior, while the interior has been adapted to host exhibitions, talks, and other cultural events run by the town. Few buildings pack in quite so many uses under one roof — sacred, penal, educational, and cultural — and that layered past is part of what makes it worth a stop while exploring Granollers.

When is the best time to visit?

Since the building now operates as a cultural venue, it's worth timing a visit around the Casa de Cultura's exhibition and event calendar, which lets travelers pair a walk through Granollers' old town with whatever program happens to be running. The town itself is comfortable to explore for most of the year outside the peak summer heat, and its short distance from Barcelona makes it easy to combine with other stops around the Vallès Oriental region.

Frequently asked questions

What was the Convent de Sant Francesc de Paula originally? It was a friary of the Order of Minims, founded in 1578 on land donated by the Perpinyà family, together with its adjoining church.

Why did the monastic community come to an end? Spain's religious suppression laws of 1835 closed the order at this site, although the church itself stayed in use for another hundred years.

What happened to the building after 1835? It served in turn as a prison and a school, while the church remained open to worshippers until 1936, when its interior burned during the unrest preceding the Spanish Civil War.

What is the building used for now? Since a 1956 rebuild designed by Josep Maria Martorell and Oriol Bohigas, it has housed the Casa de Cultura, Granollers' municipal cultural center.