We made our own walking tour of the Gothic District in Barcelona, Spain. The streets are narrow and compact, occasionally leading on to plazas or courtyards with a place (or several) to eat and maybe even a nice fountain.
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| A spot for some tables |
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| A nice fountain |
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| A bit of tiling on the wall! |
The area dates back past the Gothic times, with bits of the walls from the Romans. Back then Barcelona was known as Barcino, so not a big change like other places.
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| A bit of Roman walls |
The star of the area is the
Cathedral of Barcelona. Construction of this building started in 1298 but took about 150 years to complete.
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| Entrance to the Cathedral of Barcelona |
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| Gothic towers overlooking the plaza |
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| Row of saints overlooking the door |
The inside is spacious but not highly decorated. the nave contains a choir, the main altar, and stairs down to the crypt.
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| Nave |
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| Stair to the top of the choir |
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| The choir stalls |
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| Above the main altar |
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| The main altar |
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| Stairs to the crypt |
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| Altar in the crypt |
Many side altars are along both aisles of the church.
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| Altar for Our Lady of the Rosary |
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| Saint Mark's Altar (I think) |
Like many other European cathedrals, this one has a cloister and a chapter house. The cloister has a fountain and a large set of geese. The thirteen geese represent the age of
Saint Eulalia when she was martyred in 303 during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian. She's a popular local saint!
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| Cloister |
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| Fountain |
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| The geese |
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| All accounted for! |
The chapter house has many historical objects, the most important of which is the Golden Throne of King Martin the Humane. He was the last Catalan king, having no offspring. He dedicated his throne to Jesus Christ, saying only He could occupy it after Martin's death. Our guidebook says that Hitler, in his mania to get religious and occult objects, wanted to seize this from Spain but it was safely stored in Paris (!). No pictures were allowed in the chapter house, sadly.
Visitors are allowed to go up on the roof and enjoy the views of Barcelona.
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| Flying Buttress and Bell Tower |
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| The main tower |
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| View to Montjuic, with the white Olympic Tower and MNAC |
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| Sagrada Familia, still under construction |
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| Montjuic with castle on top! |
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| Nearby rooftops |
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| View to the port |
The city council and other government buildings sit in a plaza right near the Cathedral.
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| Flying the Catalan flag |
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| A more "ecumenical" display of patriotism |
Columns from the first century temple to Caesar Augustus were found walled up in a medieval building a hundred years ago. They are now on display.
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| Pillars of Augustus |
On the edge of the quarter is a statue to
Ramon Berenguer III, a local count from the 1100s. He fought to reunite the area under Christian rule and freed many Christian slaves in Muslim-controlled Tarragon.
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| Ramon Berenguer |
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| Some random decoration my wife pointed out |
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