A Very Holy Morning in Barcelona

After the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia the second most famous church in Barcelona is arguably The Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar and we started off one of our days in Barcelona  by paying it a visit.  When I plan, things, I plan punctually and we arrived, coffee in hand, at 8:59am arrival for the 9am opening the doors were shut and there was not another person around.  We waited a few minutes but the doors did not open so after double checking the website we walked around to make sure we were at the right door. After a full loop of the crowded streets that have grown up around the  church we ended up back at the front door five past nine and my mom and I we were the first people inside the Basilica, minus the employee was was vacuuming the main isle.

The church was very dark and vey different from the Sagrada, which we had visited the day before, and as there was no tour or pamphlets we let a few online sources guide us through the inside of the beautiful worship space.  While inside we sure to make notice three important things about the church – the fact that it was built in only 54 years, that all of the pillars are 43 feet apart (incredibly wide for a church), and the gorgeous rose window. 

As this church did not have a guided tour or any official materials we finished nearly an hour ahead of schedule and with time to kill so paid a visit to the nearby Catedral de Barcelona.  In general I disobey establishments no photos policy, like the Picasso Musuem, but there are a few places I adhere to that rule and that is in holy spaces.   Once inside the Catedral de Barcelona I took a few spots of the very Renaissance inspired church but none of areas that were not allowed.

After touring the inside space, similar to Budapest and Prague, if there is an option to climb a tour or visit the roof, I’m in. The Cathedral is not the highest point in the city but I did enjoy the views from the top!

Two very pretty churches in one action packed morning!