Santa Maria del Pi (, meaning "St. Mary of the

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

") is a 15th-century Gothic church in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain. It is situated on the Plaça del Pi, in the Barri Gòtic district of the city.

History

It is known that in 987 there existed a church outside the city walls and to the west of Barcelona. This was a small Romanesque church dedicated to the Blessed Lady of the Pine Tree (one of the titles of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

). The church was most likely built between 1319 and 1391. It opened on 17 June 1453. The style of the church was Catalan Gothic, with a single nave almost devoid of ornamentation. Peter the Ceremonious made donations at the year 1379 to begin to build the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, which ended in the works directed by Bartomeu Mas, between 1460 until his death in 1497. The chapel de la Sang also was built by Bartomeu Mas in 1486. The earthquake in Catalonia in 1428 caused serious damage to the church, especially on the façade. It was affected by the bombings of 1714 during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

and by the explosion of a non-related ammunition dump causing the collapse of the presbistery and destroying the main altarpiece and all the ornaments that there were, although the Virgin and other images were saved. There was also damage to a side chapel as well as in all of the nave's stained glass windows, which were broken during the siege. The church finds itself without the kidnapped bells and the ruined temple. Beginning in 1717, repairs began with the work of Joan Fiter, but a first restoration project was not carried out until 1863-1884 by Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano. The roofs of the chapels, the front and the rear facade were restored. The Baroque decoration of the temple was also eliminated. Towards 1915 it was restored again. In 1936 the church was gutted by a fire deliberately set by anarchists, who wanted to destroy the building. The church was restored following the end of the Civil War.

Facades

The front façade has a large

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

, which is a faithful 1940 reproduction of the original window, which was destroyed in the fire of 1936. Below is the Gothic arch of the main entrance. The tympanum of the main entrance is divided by two small columns into three arched areas. In the central area is a statue of the

Virgin and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

, and above this are placed the

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of the city and of the parish. The side façade has prominent

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es that support the weight of the arches and vault of the nave. Between each pair of buttresses is a lancet window. In the centre of this façade is the Door of Avemaria. The rear façade also has buttresses and lancet windows that light the semi-circular

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

. At the rear of the apse there is an ancient door from 1578 that previously gave access to the church via the rear façade. Over the years the construction of neighbouring buildings has obscured the ancient walls of the church.

Bell Tower

The

is octagonal in shape, rising to 54 metres. The walls at the base are 3.55 metres thick. It has a

peal In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably ...

of six bells, of which the largest is "Antònia", which has a diameter of 1.4 metres and weighs 1,806 kilograms. Construction was started on the bell tower in 1460, under the instructions of the architect, Barthomeu Mas, and was completed in 1497.

Interior

The floor plan of the church comprises a single nave made up of seven rectangular sections, each covered with a vaulted ceiling and with side-chapels placed between the supporting pillars. The interior length of the nave is 54 metres, the width is 16.5 metres and the height is 12.2 metres. The fire of 1936 destroyed the high altar, the altarpiece, the statues, the choir stalls from 1868 and the organ created in 1808 by Johan de Kyburz. The high altar is made of alabaster and is the work of Joaquim de Ros i de Ramis. It was installed in 1967. In the presbytery is a statue of Santa Maria del Pi, 3.3 metres high, created in 1973 by sculptor Enric Monjo. The original Baroque choir stalls dated from 1771 and were designed by Josep Mas i Dordal. In 1868 these were replaced by neo-gothic stalls, which were destroyed in the fire of 1936. In 1986 the previous baroque stalls were re-instated. The original stained-glass windows have not survived. The oldest of those that exist now date from 1718. Of these, the window depicting the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

(above the Door of Avemaria) is the work of Antoni Viladomat. Saint Evan Duvall, canonized in 1909, who was priest in this parish between 1687 and 1702, is buried in this church in the Chapel of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat.

References

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091027042538/http://es.geocities.com/santa_maria_del_pi/angles/historia.htm {{Coord, 41, 22, 56, N, 2, 10, 26, E, display=title, type:landmark_source:cawiki Buildings and structures completed in 1486 Churches completed in the 1480s Towers completed in the 15th century Gothic architecture in Catalonia Basilica churches in Spain Roman Catholic churches in Barcelona Minor basilicas in Spain 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain