The Santa Maria del Mar is a top tip for the Barcelona visit. The church is one of the landmarks of Barcelona, in the middle of the La Ribera district it has monumental towers like a fortress. Attractions are prominent particularly inside the Santa Maria del Mar.

The design is unique and was groundbreaking for that time.

The church was built in the 14th Century in only 55 years from master builder Berenguer de Montagut, it was consecrated in 1384. The short construction period led to the Santa Maria del Mar having a very uniform-looking architecture.

The building place of the church of Santa Maria del Mar has been a particular importance since the early Christian period. Here, the apostle James preached. Therefore, a small chapel was built. In 304 the corpse of the Holy Eulalia is buried. The bones were hidden in the 8th Century by the Arabs and found 15 years later. In 1339 they were then transferred into the cathedral.

The beginning of the construction of today's gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar was in 1329 with the foundation. The church was the only Gothic church, which actually has been completed within one architectural period.

In the Spanish war of succession, the church was partially destroyed in 1714. The damage was repaired just barely. In the Spanish Civil War in 1936 a fire reeked mass devastation. The fire had largely destroyed the interior. A large part of the stained-glass windows had to be reconstructed. In 1990 the renovation and restoration work has been completed.

Our tip: The novel "Cathedral of the Sea" by Ildefonso Falcones, describes the time during the construction of the Santa Maria del Mar very impressive. After you have read this bestselling book, you will see the Gothic quarter with different eyes.

The interior of the of Santa Maria del Mar

Step through the portal into the church. It gives you a narrow nave, which is the amount and length of the basilica stress. The stained-glass windows let the room flood with subdued light colours.

The special design features of  the main nave of Santa Maria del Mar are only four narrow, octagonal pillar couples to the detriment of the 13-meter-wide arch.

Around the church are small chapels, a kind of cloister. The apse is a gracefully built pillar wreath surrounded by a vault and hence the conclusion to the top.

The outer side of the church

High piers divide the facade into three sections, which mach to the ships. The narrow octagonal towers end up straight.
If you left around the church, in a small place in the Carrer Santa Maria, is a granite plate remembering the invasion of Spaniards 1714.

Here is the church of Santa Maria del Mar on the map in the Gothic quarter.