Santa Maria del Pi Cathedral

In the X century behind the city wall of Barcelona there was a small church in the Romanesque style called the Church of the Mother of God of Pine, and nine centuries later a new church building was erected on the same site and, perhaps, the only thing that remains from the previous one is the name.

One of the oldest cathedrals in Barcelona is called Santa Maria del Pi. Pi in Old Spanish means pine. When, coming out of the narrow street of the Gothic Quarter, you get to a small square in front of the cathedral, its darkened facade seems unreasonably massive and somehow grounded. Apparently, the original Romanesque style of the building makes itself felt. Further reconstructions followed the laws of Gothic. The stained glass window on the facade has a diameter of 10 meters and is considered the largest in the world. Two symmetrical massive towers frame the central facade. The bells of the cathedral greet the residents every morning with their ringing – from a height of 54 meters, their sound spreads throughout the Gothic Quarter.

The interior of the cathedral is not distinguished by pomp – almost everything burned in a fire during the civil war of 1936. The cathedral consists of one nave 54 meters long and side chapels located between buttresses. To the left of the entrance is an organ that can be heard during the service. The existing altar was created in 1967 to replace the lost.