Barcelona · Spain
Barcelona Cathedral
A practical guide to Barcelona Cathedral: what the ticket costs and includes, the cloister with its 13 geese, the crypt of Saint Eulàlia, opening hours and how much time to give it.
Worth it above all for the cloister and its geese, one of the most distinctive in Europe. If you want the purest, most moving Gothic, Santa Maria del Mar, ten minutes away, wins.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulàlia, La Seu to Barcelonans, is the seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona: 14th- and 15th-century Catalan Gothic with a neo-Gothic facade finished just over a hundred years ago. What sets it apart is the cloister, with palm trees, a fountain and 13 white geese that live there year-round.
Our experience
We went in at 15:27 on Wednesday, May 27, after the Temple d’August, on our walk through the Gothic Quarter. We gave it a little over half an hour, with priority for the nave and the cloister with the geese. We put it in the middle of the route because it’s two minutes from the Roman temple and five from Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, which was our next stop. The full afternoon is in our arrival in Barcelona.
A bit of history
An early Christian basilica stood here in the 4th century, destroyed in Almanzor’s raid in 985, followed by a Romanesque cathedral consecrated in 1058. The Gothic cathedral was begun on May 1, 1298, under King James II of Aragon and Bishop Bernat Pelegrí. The main body was finished around 1420 and the cloister around 1448.
The facade stayed bare for more than four centuries. In 1408 master builder Charles Galters of Rouen drew a design that was never built for lack of money. In 1882 there was a competition: Joan Martorell submitted a design the young Gaudí worked on, but a more conservative project based on the 1408 drawing was chosen, paid for out of pocket by the industrialist Manuel Girona. The facade went up between 1887 and 1890, and the 70-meter central dome was finished in 1913. Gaudí, without the cathedral, carried on with the Sagrada Família.
The geese have lived in the cloister for at least four centuries. There are 13 for Saint Eulàlia, the city’s child martyr, who died around the year 304 under Emperor Diocletian.
Before you go in
In reviews, people who come after the Sagrada Família sometimes find it dark and conventional, and some feel the €16 is steep. What it offers is something else: a cathedral that never stopped working as a church, with centuries of history in layers and a cloister unlike any other. If you have energy left for another Gothic church that day, Santa Maria del Mar is ten minutes away on foot, in El Born.
What to see, in order
-
The gargoyles on the facade
From Pla de la Seu, look up: elephants, unicorns, eagles and bulls. The facade is neo-Gothic, built between 1887 and 1913.
-
The nave from the back
Stand at the back and look toward the high altar: Catalan Gothic, wide and restrained, more horizontal than the French kind.
-
The choir
In the middle of the nave, 15th-century wooden stalls with coats of arms painted in 1519 for the chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece that Charles V convened here.
-
The crypt of Saint Eulàlia
Under the high altar, the 1339 alabaster tomb with reliefs of her martyrdom. Behind it is her original 4th-century sarcophagus.
-
The Christ of Lepanto
In the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, a 16th-century crucifix with a bent body. Tradition says it sailed on John of Austria's flagship at Lepanto in 1571 and leaned aside to dodge a cannonball.
-
The cloister and the geese
Palm trees, orange trees, the 15th-century Font de les Oques in the center and 13 white geese, one for each year Saint Eulàlia had lived when she died, according to the best-known tradition.
-
The rooftops
Included in the ticket. You go up in an elevator from the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, by the door of Sant Iu, and walk between the buttresses with views of the sea and the Sagrada Família.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- The €16 ticket includes a virtual audio guide via QR code; you don't need a live guide for a short visit.
- The rooftop elevator is sometimes out of service, and then the rooftops close. If going up matters to you, check catedralbcn.org that same day.
- No flash. Silence is requested in the nave; quiet voices are tolerated in the cloister.
- To continue to Sant Felip Neri, leave by the cloister door onto Carrer del Bisbe.
Do
- Wear your bag cross-body in front: the front steps and the dim nave are pickpocket territory.
- If you have 45 minutes, go up to the rooftops: they're already paid for with your ticket.
- Look for the Carrara marble baptismal font from 1433: according to the cathedral's tradition, the Caribbean natives Columbus brought back were baptized there in 1493.
Don’t
- Don't come expecting free entry to the cloister: worship access doesn't include it.
- Don't accept balloons, bracelets or sprigs of rosemary in front of the steps: afterward they charge you €10–20.
- Don't sign clipboard petitions on Pla de la Seu.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to visit Barcelona Cathedral?
€16 for the adult cultural ticket and €14 reduced. It includes the cloister, choir, crypt, rooftops, museum and audio guide.
Can you get in for free?
Only during worship hours, and that access doesn't include the cloister, the rooftops or the museum.
What are the visiting hours?
Weekdays from 9:30 to 18:30, last entry at 17:45. Sundays and holidays, 14:00 to 17:00.
Why are there geese in the cloister?
There are 13, for Saint Eulàlia, Barcelona's patron saint. The best-known tradition says she was 13 when she was martyred; another speaks of 13 tortures.
How much time do you need?
About 30 to 45 minutes for the nave, cloister and crypt. With the rooftops and museum, an hour or more.