Barcelona - Discover Spain: Experience the Best of Spain - page 117

( Plaça de la Seu; 8am-8pm; Jaume I) You can reach Barcelona's Catedral,
one of its most magnificent Gothic structures, by following Carrer del Bisbe northw-
est from Plaça de Sant Jaume.
The interior of the cathedral is a broad, soaring space. It is divided into a central
nave and two aisles by lines of elegant, thin pillars.
In the first chapel, on the right from the northwest entrance, the main Crucifixion
figure above the altar is Sant Crist de Lepant , which was carried on the prow of
the Spanish flagship at the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks in 1571. It is said the
figure acquired its odd stance by dodging an incoming cannonball.
Smack in the middle of the central nave is the exquisitely sculpted, late-14th-cen-
tury timber coro (choir stall; admission €2.20) .
The crypt beneath the main altar contains the remarkable alabaster tomb of
Santa Eulàlia, one of Barcelona's patron saints and a good Christian lass of the 4th
century, who suffered terrible tortures and death at the hands of the pagan Romans
(or so the story goes).
For a bird's-eye (mind the poop) view of medieval Barcelona, visit the cathedral's
roof and tower (admission €2.20) by a lift from the Capella de les Animes del Pur-
gatori, near the northeast transept.
From the southwest transept, exit to the lovely claustre (cloister), with its trees,
fountains and geese (there have been geese here for centuries).

PLAÇA DEL REI
A stone's throw east of the cathedral, Plaça del Rei is the courtyard of the former
Palau Reial Major, the palace of the counts of Barcelona and monarchs of Aragón.
Most of the tall, centuries-old buildings surrounding Plaça del Rei are now open
to visitors as the Museu d'Història de Barcelona Offline map Google map (
www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat ; Carrer del Veguer; adult/senior & student €7/5;
10am-8pm Tue-Sun, 10am-3pm holidays; Jaume I) This is one of Barcelona's most
fascinating sights, combining large sections of the former palace with a subter-
ranean walk through Roman and Visigothic Barcelona. Entry is free from 3pm
Sundays and from 4pm on the first Saturday of the month.
The entrance to the museum is through 16th-century Casa Padellàs Offline map
Google map , just south of Plaça del Rei. With its courtyard typical of Barcelona's
late-Gothic and baroque mansions, the house was moved here in the 1930s be-
cause of roadworks. The external courtyard staircase now leads to a restored Ro-

Museum Square