For me, the Barcelona Cathedral was a bit different from other Gothic Cathedrals we’ve seen over the years, mainly because the huge wooden choir seats area is smack in the middle of the main part of the church, obstructing the view of the altar if you’re standing in an aisle on either side of the choir.
Since this blocks the view of the altar when you’re standing in the back of the church, or next to the choir area, the modern church has huge TV monitors so that you can watch the action, as it were, from the side pews.
Between that modern touch, and the plastic tarp covering the spots in the roof that are being refurbished, it was a little hard to get a proper sense of the atmosphere of the church.
Another thing that was interesting both in this church, and in another cathedral in Barcelona in which I wasn’t able to take photos, was the fact that the decorations on the ceiling have mostly been destroyed over the years, but some remnants of the painted medallions remain. I don’t recall ever seeing this type of painted medallions before in a church ceiling.
Now, the name of the Barcelona Cathedral translates to “The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia”. St. Eulalia was a martyr in Barcelona back in the early 4th-century. Strikingly, her body is entombed in the white sarcophagus you can see at the bottom of the stairs in one of my photos. That tomb is under the main altar, and you can see both when you stand in the main church in front of the regular altar. Interesting. There’s also a photo of two shields that decorate the staircase that leads down to the tomb. The one that looks like an “X” represents the type of cross she was crucified on, at least according to Wikipedia.
The last photo below shows you yet a nother modern touch that we were struck by when a group of tourists came in. They all stood together and snapped their photos at the same time, as tourist groups usually do. However, this was the first time that we saw several people in a group using an iPad (or other tablet device) instead of a camera to take their photos. Who would have thought we’d find a sign of 21st century technology while visiting 14th century Gothic church.
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- Modern tourism: taking photos with your iPad
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- Choir
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- Crypt below the main altar
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- From the side aisle, a window down to the crypt
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- Steps down to crypt below main altar
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- More of main transept and altar area
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- Main transept
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- Painted angel statue
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- More wall decorations
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- Ceiling in side chapel
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- Tomb decoration with cherubs and skull
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- More ceiling decoration
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- Another painted medallion on the ceiling
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- Painted medallion on the ceiling
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- TV monitors allow you to see the altar from these pews
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- One of two main aisles
There were lots of interesting things in this series of pictures–strange but stylish to have skulls in the decoration. It looked like some ugly inside gargoyles in one picture. I liked the pictures of the tall narrow sanctuary; but I think my favorite was called “ceiling in side chapel.” It had the silhouette of what looked like metal flowers lined up in front of the picture framing the picture interestingly. Thanks for the series!
Thanks for the lesson in medieval Church parts, something new to me. It is so big. Nice windows and statues. Like the angel very much. iPad. Nice touch. ha ha
I’ve seen that before — the choir section blocking the view for just about everyone — not in a cathedral, but in a church along the Danube, somewhere in Austria, where my friend Judy and I stopped for lunch. This was around 1985, and it made such an impression on me – why in the world set up a church that way, with parishioners not able to see what’s going on? I’ve never forgotten it, nor understood it.