Its origins
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.
The basilica today
Building work began in 1298, when Bernat Pelegrí was Bishop and Jaume II, known as “The Just”, was on the throne. 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, by the architects Josep Oriol Mestres and August Font i Carreras, based on an early 15th century design by the French architect Mestre Carlí. Rather than Catalan Gothic, the style is Nordic Gothic The façade is 70 metres high and crowned with an image of Saint Helena, by the sculptor Eduard Alentorn.
In the cloisters, for Corpus Christi, there is a typically Barcelonian custom, l’ou com balla: an egg (ou) 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.
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