Cathedral of Barcelona

The earliest origins of Barcelona Cathedral date back to a basilica with three naves, destroyed by Al-Mansur in 925. The remains of this basilica can be seen at the City History Museum. Around 1046, Bishop Guislabert pushed for the construction of a new cathedral. There are hardly any references to this cathedral. It is believed to have occupied part of the Gothic building but all that has been preserved is Romanesque.

Building work began in 1298. The Santa Llúcia Chapel, built in a late Romanesque style, already existed. Construction was very slow: the Crypt of Saint Eulalia and the choir-stall are from the end of the 14th century; the cloister from the 15th century and the retrochoir and the organ from the 16th century. The façade was finally finished in the early 20th century. Rather than Catalan Gothic, the style is Nordic Gothic. The façade is 70 metres high and crowned with an image of Saint Helena.

In the cloisters, for Corpus Christi, there is a typically Barcelonian custom: "l'ou com balla" where an egg is put into the jet of water in the cloister garden fountain to make it "dance". There is also a pond with thirteen white geese. Always thirteen, because that is how old Saint Eulalia was when, according to legend, she was martyred.