The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia ( ca, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

and seat of the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The cathedral was constructed from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with the principal work done in the fourteenth century. The cloister, which encloses the Well of the Geese (''Font de les Oques''), was completed in 1448. In the late nineteenth century, the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches. The roof is notable for its gargoyles, featuring a wide range of animals, both domestic and mythical. Its form is pseudo-

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

, vaulted over five aisles, the outer two divided into chapels. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

is truncated. The east end is a

chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of nine radiating chapels connected by an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

. The

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...

is raised, allowing a clear view into the crypt. Cathedral of Santa Eulalia Barcelona

The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times in the city. One story says that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street (according to tradition, the one now called ''Baixada de Santa Eulàlia''). The body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedral's crypt. The choir stalls retain the coats-of-arms of the knights of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriag ...

. In his first trip into Spain, Charles, the future Holy Roman Emperor, selected Barcelona as the site of a chapter of his Order. The king had arrived for his investiture as

Count of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

, and the city, as a Mediterranean port, offered the closest communication with other far-flung

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

dominions, while the large proportions of the cathedral would accommodate required grand ceremonies. In 1518 the Order's herald, Thomas Isaac, and its treasurer, Jean Micault, were commissioned to prepare the sanctuary for the first sitting of the chapter in 1519. Juan de Borgonya executed the painted decoration of the sanctuary. "The church was named after Barcelona's patron saint Eulalia; its official name - Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia - is Catalan for "Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia". The commonly used name La Seu refers to the status of the church as the seat of the diocese." The side Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and of the Holy Christ of Lepanto contains a cross said to date from the time of the Battle of Lepanto (1571). In addition to Saints Eulàlia and Olegarius, the cathedral contains the tombs of Saint Raymond of Penyafort, Count

Ramon Berenguer I Ramon Berenguer I (1023–1076), called the Old ( ca, el Vell, french: le Vieux), was Count of Barcelona in 1035–1076. He promulgated the earliest versions of a written code of Catalan law, the Usages of Barcelona. Born in 1024, he succee ...

and his third wife

Almodis de la Marche Almodis de la Marche ( 1020 – 16 October 1071) was a French noble. She was famed for her marriage career, in particularly for her third marriage to Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, with whom she committed double bigamy in 1053, for whic ...

, and bishops Berenguer de Palou II, Salvador Casañas y Pagés, and Arnau de Gurb, who is buried in the Chapel of Santa Llúcia, which he had constructed. The cathedral has a secluded Gothic

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

where 13 white geese are kept, the number explained by the assertion that Eulalia was 13 when she was martyred. A program of cleaning and restoration of the cathedral was carried out from 1968 to 1972.

History

Parts of an early Christian and Visigothic episcopal complex including the baptistery (fourth century), a basilical hall (fifth century), a cross shaped church (sixth-seventh century) and bishop's palace (sixth-seventh century) are displayed in Barcelona City History Museum archaeological underground. Reportedly, this

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

chapel was dedicated to

Saint James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints * James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater ** Saint James Matamo ...

, and was the proprietary church of the Viscounts of Barcelona.F. Carreras Candi ''La Ciutat de Barcelona'' However, in a document from the Second Council of Barcelona in 599, it states that the cathedral was dedicated to the Holy Cross. This church was severely damaged by al-Mansur (

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...

) during his attack on Barcelona in 985. In 1046, Count

and his wife Almodis, together with

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Guislabert, began construction of a Romanesque cathedral at the site; it was consecrated in November 1058. The cathedral was constructed over the

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

of the former church. It has been reported that a Viscount of Barcelona, Mir Geribert, sold the site to Bishop Guislebert in 1058, though however, this date does not coincide with the reported start of construction. The present Gothic cathedral was begun on the foundations of the previous churches on 1 May 1298; James II the Just was

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre ...

at the time, and Bernat Pelegri was Bishop of Barcelona. The church was built from the east end towards the west end, with a simple west facade completed in 1417. The cloister was completed in 1448, making the total duration of construction 150 years. In the late nineteenth century, Miguel Girona i Agrafel offered to complete the neo-Gothic facade and central tower as inspired by the original fifteenth-century design prepared by master Carlí and rearranged and drawn by the architect Josep O. Mestres. This work was completed in 1913 by Girona's children. Barcelona-Catedral-Capitular-055

File:Cathedral of Barcelona 1850 Villaamil.jpg, The facade in year 1850 by

Jenaro Pérez Villaamil Jenaro Pérez de Villaamil y d'Huguet (3 February 1807 – 5 June 1854) was a Spanish painter in the Romantic style who specialized in landscapes with figures and architectural scenes. He often inflated the scale of the buildings relative ...

, published in the work ''España artística y monumental''. File:Catedral-1890.jpg, The reform of the facade starting to built in 1890. File:Catedral-1900.jpg, The facade with the lateral towers, around 1900. File:150 Catedral de Barcelona.jpg, Reform of the facade completed in 1913.

Chapel of Lepanto

The Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and of the Holy Christ of Lepanto is a small side chapel constructed by Arnau Bargués in 1407, as the chapterhouse. It was rebuilt in the seventeenth century to house the tomb of San Olegarius, Bishop of Barcelona, and Archbishop of Tarragona. The "Holy Christ of Lepanto" crucifix, is located on the upper part of the chapel entrance's front façade. The curved shape of the body, of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, is explained by a Catalan legend which holds that the cross was carried on the

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...

of the

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

captained by Juan of Austria, step-brother of Spanish

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

during the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

in 1571. When a cannonball flew toward the cross, it leaned out of the way in order to avoid being hit, and has been inclined ever since. The Habsburgs were said to have regarded this as an encouraging omen. A separate story says that the cross was in the ship's hold and that the figure moved to cover a large hole that would have sunk the ship."Holy Christ of Lepanto", Catedral de Barcelona
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Traditions

* The tradition of the ' dancing egg' (supported by the jet of a fountain) is maintained on the day of Corpus Christi at the cathedral.

Present day

The cathedral has been updated in response to an increasing number of tourists. The cloister now contains a gift shop, the traditional candles normally lit at the shrines of saints have been replaced with electronic candles, and cellular phones have been banned from the Chapel of Lepanto and other chapels.

Images

Image:Santaeulaliabarcelona224.jpg, Cathedral plan File:Altar mayor de la Catedral de Barcelona.JPG, Illustration of the main altar (1839) File:Barcelone - Cathédrale - Portail principal.jpg, Main portal Image:Porta claustre catedral de Barcelona.jpg, Door in the

Barcelona Cathedral Interior - Altarpiece of our Lady of the Rosebush - Agusti Pujol 1617-1629.jpg, Chapel of Lady of the Rosebush Barcelona Cathedral Interior - Crypt of Santa Eulalia.jpg, Santa Eulàlia's Crypt Barcelona Cathedral - The fountain of the cloister.jpg, Cloister Image:cathedralgeesebarcelona.JPG, Geese in the cloister Barcelona Cathedral Interior - carved choir stalls.jpg, Choir seats at the Cathedral Image:Creatity.com st eulalia fontain.jpg, The Fountain in the Atrium of the Santa Eulalia Image:Garden06390019.JPG, The Cathedral garden Image:Cathedral of Santa Eulalia - gargoyle 01.jpg, Gargoyle Barcelona Cathedral Interior - Capella de Sant Ramon de Penyafort.jpg, Tomb of Saint Raymond of Penyafort Image:Catalunya en Miniatura-Catedral de Barcelona.JPG, Scale model of the cathedral, at the Catalunya en Miniatura park Image:Barcelona, Cathedral and Palau del Lloctinent.jpg, Bell Tower with stair turret above the door of Saint Ivo. File:Barcelona Cathedral (original).jpg, Barcelona Cathedral at night

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain Roman Catholic churches completed in 1417 Gothic architecture in Barcelona Roman Catholic cathedrals in Catalonia Tourist attractions in Barcelona Ciutat Vella Basilica churches in Spain Roman Catholic churches in Barcelona Burial sites of the House of Barcelona