Barcelona Cathedral

Barcelona Cathedral
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia
Basilica Catedral Metropolitana de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia
West façade in 2019.
41°23′02″N 2°10′35″E / 41.38389°N 2.17639°E / 41.38389; 2.17639
Location	Barcelona
Address	Pla de la Seu
Country	Spain
Denomination	Catholic
Website	catedralbcn.org/en
History
Status	Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica
Dedication	The Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia of Barcelona
Dedicated	18 November 1058[a]
Architecture
Architect(s)	Jaume Fabre (first known)
Style	Catalan Gothic, Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1 May 1298
Completed	1913 (west façade and dome)
Specifications
Length	93 m (305 ft)
Width	40 m (130 ft)
Nave height	28 m (92 ft)
Dome height (outer)	70 m (230 ft)
Dome height (inner)	41 m (135 ft)
Tower height	54 m (177 ft)
Administration
Archdiocese	Barcelona
Clergy
Archbishop	Juan José Omella
Auxiliary Bishop(s)	Javier Vilanova Pellisa, David Abadías Aurín
Spanish Cultural Heritage
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	2 November 1929
Reference no.	RI-51-0000338

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Catalan: Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. 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.^[2] In the late nineteenth century, the neo-Gothic façade was constructed over the nondescript exterior that was common to Catalan churches.^[3]

Its form is a pseudo-basilica, vaulted over five aisles, the outer two divided into chapels. The transept is truncated. The east end is a chevet of nine radiating chapels connected by an ambulatory. The high altar is raised, allowing a clear view into the crypt.

The cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Cross and Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin martyr 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 relics of Saint Eulalia are entombed in the cathedral's crypt.

The choir stalls retain the coats-of-arms of the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece. In his first trip into Spain, Charles V, selected Barcelona as the site of a chapter of his order. The king had arrived for his investiture as Count of Barcelona, and the city, as a Mediterranean port, offered the closest communication with other far-flung Habsburg 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 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).^[4]

In addition to Saints Eulalia and Olegarius, the cathedral contains the tombs of Saint Raymond of Penyafort, Count Ramon Berenguer I and his third wife Almodis de la Marche, 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 where 13 white geese are kept, the number explained by the assertion that Eulalia was 13 when she was martyred.^[4]

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