Escola Cervantes

Escola Cervantes is a public school for early childhood and primary education in Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella district. The classrooms occupy Palau Dou, whose stone façade combines neoclassical design with surviving Gothic details. A blocked coronella window from the fifteenth century remains visible on the first floor.

The property grew through several generations of the Dou family before architect Antoni Cellers i Azcona created a neoclassical palace in the early nineteenth century. Its central courtyard has semicircular arches, Tuscan columns and pilasters, with stone corner markers protecting the bases. Later changes added a rooftop terrace and electric lighting, while a major renovation from 1988 to 1993 reshaped the interiors and façade.

Plain square windows and a smooth maroon finish now rise above the older stonework. The former garden became a sports court, and the original arched doorway beside the entrance became a window. Workshops, traditional games and projects about Catalan culture connect school life with Barcelona’s public spaces.