The origin dates back many more centuries. The name Montjuïc means “Mountain of the Jews” in ancient catalan and this refers to the middle ages when this place was a Jewish cemetery.

The cemetery is surrounded by many interesting things to see and know. We list some:

It has a not very well known library that is dedicated to the subject of death, with more than 4,000 volumes to consult.

The cemetery has many tombs and pantheons of great artistic value, which cover different styles: neoclassicism, historicism, modernism, novecentism, eclecticism, etc. Great architects were the authors of these works: Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Enric Sagnier, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Josep Maria Jujol, among many others.

One sector of the enclosure is called Fossar de la Pedrera, which was used as a mass grave for 4000 victims of Francoist repression.

You can also visit the Funeral Carriages Museum, which has a total of 13 funeral carriages and 6 accompanying carriages.

Another curiosity: During the construction of several buildings of the Ciutat Vella District, being scarce of stones, they took advantage of several of the Jewish tombs that this cemetery. There are still some in the Plaça de Sant Iu just in the entrance of Frederic Marès’ Museum with their inscriptions in Hebrew included!