The building that now houses the Frederic Marès Museum once served as the palace headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition, one of history's most feared institutions. Tucked behind the cathedral in the Gothic Quarter at Plaça de Sant Iu, this medieval complex was where the Inquisition Tribunal conducted its operations for decades.
In 1483, Tomás de Torquemada was appointed Grand Inquisitor, transforming this former royal palace into the command center for investigating and prosecuting those accused of heresy across the region. A faded coat of arms still marks the stone facade along Carrer dels Comtes. It shows a cross, a sword, and an olive branch, the official symbols of the Holy Office of the Inquisition.
But the building holds an even darker secret. Many of the stones forming its walls are Jewish tombstones, stolen from the cemetery on Montjuïc when the Jewish community was destroyed in 1391 and later expelled. The square in front became a stage for public executions. Prisoners were paraded in pointed hats before crowds gathered to witness sentences carried out. Fragments of Hebrew inscriptions remain embedded in the walls, silent traces of the community that was erased from this place centuries ago.
Sources. Story: Source Story: Atlas Obscura - Inquisition's Blazon https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/inquisitions-blazon Wikipedia - Spanish Inquisition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition Photos: Source Photo: Francisco Goya, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
