Barcelona Part III - The City of Churches and Gaudi

First building we entered was the Cathedral of Barcelona, also known as the Cathedral de Santa Eulalia de Barcelona.

Interestingly, it had a large cellular advertisement placed on top of the building, which seemed a bit profane.

 

A Cathedral in the Gothic style, it was built from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.

The inside is as impressive as the outside, if not more:

 

 

 

The choir area includes seats with the coats of arms from knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire established a chapter of the order in Barcelona.

The Cathedral also holds a cross that was at the Battle of Lepanto.  The cross is off to one side, as it apparently moved to dodge an Ottoman cannonball at that battle. 

Tiles with inscriptions from the 1700s can be seen on the floor.

It also holds the Well of Geese and 13 Geese are supposed to be maintained in it at all times.

The 13 geese are in honor of the Saint Eulalia, who the cathedral was named after and was 13 when she was martyred.

Very impressive building and well worth the visit.

Next we went to the Sagrada Família, the Cathedral designed by Gaudi, the famed architect, and it is where he was buried.  Under construction since 1882, The Cathedral is currently the largest unfinished Roman Catholic church in the world.

To say it's huge and will be awesome when it is eventually done. It was supposed to be completed in 2026 the centennial of Gaudi's death.  It likely won;t be done by then due to the delays brought on by the COVID lockdowns.

The details of the facade are amazing.

After seeing the Sagrada Família, we then went to a scenic overlook at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya to see the city.

You can see the Sagrada Família standing out as a landmark over the city.

 

The view in other directions are equally impressive.

 

After getting awesome views of the city, we then headed back to the ship, and headed to our next port.