Palace of Catalan Music, Barcelona

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Palau de la Música Catalana welcomes an estimated 500,000 people a year to over 300 musical performances of various types: symphony, chamber, choral, instrumental, jazz and flamenco. It's also used for social functions and conferences. Leaders of the Orfeó Català choral society commissioned modernist architect Lluís Domenec i Muntaner to design the building in 1891. He gave free reign to his creative imagination, and the result is a masterpiece. The concert hall seats 1970 people, it's perfectly proportioned, and the acoustics are exceptionally fine. The stunning interior decor changes continually according to the amount of light that streams through the huge skylight and the stained-glass windows.