The beautiful beating religious heart of Barcelona is hands down the beautiful Gothic cathedral. La Sagrada Familia is all about architecture, but La Catedral, that’s pure old school religious soul. Built in 1046-1058 AD with a Gothic façade added in 1298 the church is hundreds of years of art, sculpture, and religion

The interior is beautiful with tall arches, a painted choir and detailed light fixtures

Even the joints at the arches in the ceiling are detailed

And the church is the shrine to many of Barcelona’s famous past citizens

Outside the nave, is the beautiful cloisters of the cathedral. In the center are ponds and lands for the thirteen geese that live in the cathedral. The thirteen geese represent the thirteen years that Saint Eulalia lived before she was martyred.

The cloisters are a peaceful oasis in the middle of the busy cathedral

The swans are famous residents of the ponds of the cloisters

Funny enough in the cathedral was a fountain with portable water that came out. My mother laughed at me, but soon people were following my example and filling up their water bottles with cold fresh water.

The beautiful fountains and they have portable water as well!

But the real treat of the cathedral was the roof. I noticed a sign advertising the view from the roof and found the line to the elevator. I convinced my mom and stepfather to join me and we got in line to get up to the roof. Up at the top was amazing. They had put a metal walkway through much of the roof allowing people to walk on a centuries old building and see the view of Barcelona from up high.

The view from the roof was spectacular, and allowed you to see details such as gargoles up close and personal

Finally, my mom and stepfather dragged me back down to the ground and back to the real world. I was reluctant to leave this bastion of history, this building that transported me back in time to a different world. But I left with the strong memories of the beauty and my soul filled once again.

La Catedral de Barcelona

• Address: Pla de la Seu, s/n, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
• Hours: Monday – Friday 12:30 PM – 7:45 PM, Saturday 12:30 PM – 5:30 PM, Sunday 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM
• Cost: €7 an individual