Guide to Barcelona

Barcelonan katedraali

17.08.2009 09:12

Nähtävyydet Barcelonassa

The Cathedral of Santa Cruz y santa Eulalia is in the center of Barcelona, quite near Plaza Catalunya. If you like Gothic arquitecture, you will love the cathedral.

The oldest traces of the Cathedral are a temple with three naves which was destroyed by Al-Mansure in 925 AD. The remains can be seen in the Museum of History of the City (Museo de Historia de la Ciudad).
It was not until aproximately 1046 that construction started on a new place of worship, thanks to Archbishop Guislabert. Unfortunately, there are hardly and references to this building.

The  Cathedral as it stands today was started in 1298 during the reign of Jaime II and was not finished until the mid 15th century, when Kind Aragón Alfonso V was in power.

The building has a typically gothic aisle of 91 metres long and 40 wide. There are three naves and  an ambulatory with a header to open nine chapels. Buttresses are located between the twin chapels, in the arms of the transept is the octagonal bell tower and another tower at the foot, evoking the position of the nails of Christ on the Cross.

In the southern side is a rectangular cloister surrounded by 22 chevets, together with the interior of the temple 27 making a total of 49 chevets, a feature of this cathedral which indicates the complex structure of the Catalan society of the time.
Within the cloister, is one of the most curious and symbolic details of this cathedral. These are 13 white geese that live in the small central garden. According to the story, one of the patron of the cathedral, Santa Eulalia, was pastor of geese. Regarding the number 13, he is believed to have been this age when he was executed.

The façade is the most recent part of the cathedral, finished at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. Without doubt, the cathedral is one of the treasures of Barcelona.
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