Hola,

After reading this article today, http://www.avui.cat/cat/notices/2009/10/l_8217_estat_no_ha_posat_ni_cinc_a_la_catedral_74542.php I've decided to do my post on Barcelona Cathedral as it's in quite a sorry state of disrepair and in desperate need of money, yet is often overlooked both as a tourist attraction and as a piece of architecture in favour of La Sagrada Familia.

The Cathedral is located right in the heart of Barcelona's Gothic quarter, one of the most visually interesting and intricate parts of Barcelona (I think) and its construction spans over 1500 years from its humble beginnings as a basilica built in 343 A.D. by the Romans, to the most recent and final addition of a spire in 1913. Between these, the Cathedral had a Roman chapel and cloister added and the main construction began in 1298 under Jaume II.

Despite having survived civil wars and black death to come into fruition the Cathedral is now in very poor disrepair and the facade and roof are under scaffolding to repair damage. The state has invested 12 million euro but the estimated final costs are set to exceed 16 million. There is a campaign within the church of 'sponsoring a stone' where visitors can literally pay for one stone that goes into repairing the Cathedral.

One of the nicest things about the Cathedral I think is the views from the roof. You go up in a lift and are then given free reign to wander about over the roof and on a clear day it is beautiful, and a lot less crowded than the other high-viewing points in Barcelona. It also means you can see the architecture really close up and see why it's so important that the church is restored and also appreciate the amount of detail that has gone into the building originally (at the top are some pictures taken from the roof). The other cool thing about the Cathedral are the geese contained in the courtyard: these represent a year in the life of Santa Eulalia who was martyred and then buried in the Cathedral. The courtyard itself is really pretty and a nice thing to have in the middle of a Cathedral, especially with the geese.

So if you're in Barcelona go and visit the Cathedral, partly to help invest in the restoration of such an important building which is quite a welcome change to all the modernist architecture around the city, the combination of which helps to make Barcelona so attractive and vibrant and also because it has amazing views right across the city!