The Virreina Palace is an urban palace whose building is one of the finest examples of Baroque civil architecture in Catalonia.

The palace's rooms and courtyard are the headquarters of Barcelona City Council's cultural department and are used as a setting for temporary exhibitions. Inside, the Gegants de la Ciutat and the Àliga de Barcelona are on permanent display.

In 1776, Manuel de Amat y Junyent, Marquis of Castellbell, returned to Barcelona with a large fortune after stepping down as Viceroy of Peru, which he had held since 1761. As a token of his wealth, he had this sumptuous palace built, a mixture of Baroque and Rococo decoration. It was built between 1772 and 1778 and, after Amat's premature death, it was occupied by his widow, Maria Francesca de Fiveller y de Bru, which is why it became known as the Palacio de la Virreina (Viceroy's Palace). The plans already existed in 1770, but it is not known with certainty who designed them, being attributed to Josep Ausich. The works were directed by the architect and sculptor Carles Grau. The sculptor Francesc Serra was also involved, but he died during the work.

It seems that the viceroy himself, from Peru, gave detailed instructions for its construction and possibly decided in a personal way on the style of the façade, made of stone from Montjuïc and Santanyí.

In 1941 it was declared a National Monument and in 1944 it was acquired by Barcelona City Council, which has used it for a variety of purposes, including housing various museums and temporary exhibitions. In 1986, like the National Library of Spain, it housed an exhibition of modern painting from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection in Switzerland, which at that time was looking for a permanent home.

At that time, the then Mayor Pasqual Maragall signed an agreement with Baron Thyssen to deposit part of the collection in Barcelona. In 1988 the Virreina building hosted another Thyssen exhibition, this time of 19th-century American painting. Finally, in 1993, a long-term loan of some 60 works was secured for Barcelona, which were housed in the Pedralbes Monastery and transferred to the MNAC in 2004.

The main façade is symmetrically structured on vertical axes marked by the balconies with the reinforcement of six pilasters with Ionic-type capitals. The balconies have wrought-iron railings. Twelve corbels support a cornice crowned with a balustrade with twelve large vases.

There is an interesting inner courtyard with a double staircase from which the large windows of the salons, framed with fluted pilasters and richly sculpted panels, can be seen.