Like most large cities in Europe, Barcelona has a cathedral. This one is called the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia (Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia in Catalan). Saint Eulalia of Barcelona was a 13-year-old girl who was martyred by Roman soldiers early in the 4th Century for not recanting her Christianity. It is said she was subjected to 13 tortures, the last of which (decapitation) proved to be fatal. The cathedral is also commonly referred to as La Seu, which is a reference to its status as the seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona.

Principal construction of the current cathedral took place between 1298 and 1460. The façade and main tower were covered in scaffolding during our visit, but looked to be in remarkably good shape for such an old building. But this is because the façade wasn't installed until the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, as neo-gothic ornamentation covering what had been a rather plain wall.

There was a small admission fee to enter the cathedral (which probably helps pay for the restoration work), but the investment is more than worthwhile. The interior is gothic in design and is 305 feet long by 131 feet wide. There are 28 side chapels and a large enclosed choir area in the middle. Here's a sampling:













There is also a cloister area outside the main building. The cloister has a nice fountain, and geese. By custom, there are always 13 white geese maintained in the cloister area, symbolic of the age of Saint Eulalia when she was martyred. There is also a small museum.



On reentering the cathedral, we paid a visit to the Saint herself – a crypt under the main altar holds a sarcophagus containing her remains.

We exited the cathedral and explored the general area, which held some points of interest for wandering tourists. The Hotel Colón across from the cathedral has a name Beavis and Butt-Head would love, but Colón is just the Spanish version of Columbus.


We then headed back to our hotel on La Rambla. As mentioned earlier, La Rambla is the main drag for tourists in Barcelona. It is pleasantly shaded and somewhat pedestrianized – there are roads on the fringes on which automotive traffic can move in both directions, but the median is wider than either of them, and is constantly filled with people. During the day, it is crowded with people wanting to see the vendors and street performers, or to just people-watch. During the night, it is filled with partakers of all the night life Barcelona has to offer, which is a considerable amount. At all hours it is home to an army of pickpockets. I recall seeing a survey naming La Rambla as the single spot in all of Europe where you're most likely to get your pocket picked. So if you find yourself on La Rambla, try not to get too engrossed in the street performers – you might find yourself contributing more to the local economy than you'd planned.

Our plans for the next day were ambitious, so we made an early evening of it. Our first stop was to be a visit to the famous Sagrada Família.