Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Catalan Gothic
Barcelona's first great moment of creative electricity came when the city, grown rich on its
Mediterranean trade and empire-building, transformed what is now the old city centre into
the pageant of Gothic building that has survived in great part to this day.
Historically, Gothic sits between the
Romanesque and Renaissance periods of medi-
eval construction. It was an architectural style
that emerged in France in the 1100s, but gradu-
ally spread throughout Europe, spawning numer-
ous regional variations. The overlying themes,
best exemplified in the ecclesial buildings of the
day, were humungous scale (Gothic churches
were the skyscrapers of their era), well-lit interi-
ors, large windows, pointed arches, lofty pin-
nacles and spires, and majestic decoration.
Most of these themes were employed in medi-
eval Barcelona in a raft of buildings that spanned
the whole era and later inspired a small neo-
Gothic revival in the mid-19th century. The
Església de Santa María del Mar is a fairly un-
embellished example of Levantino (14th-cen-
tury) Gothic style at its height and is usually con-
sidered the city's greatest Gothic achievement.
The more decorative Catedral is the synthesis of
a Levantino Gothic base overlaid with a neo-
Gothic facade.
Gothic Masterpieces
1 LA CATEDRAL ( CLICK HERE )
2 ESGLÉSIA DE SANTA MARIA DEL MAR
( CLICK HERE )
3 MUSEU MARÍTIM ( CLICK HERE )
4 ESGLÉSIA DE SANTA MARIA DEL PI
( CLICK HERE )
5 MUSEU D'HISTÒRIA DE BARCELONA
( CLICK HERE )
 
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