The Cathedral of Barcelona - El Catedral de Barcelona
The morning sun glows behind the spires as people wait for the Cathedral to open for the day.
Construction of the gothic Cathedral of Barcelona began in 1298 and took 150 years to complete. The main façade is several hundred years younger. It was constructed between the years 1887-1913.
You have to pay to enter the Cathedral which is well worth the minimum €9.00 that gets you full access to everything but the museum. Traveling post-pandemic requires a little more planning, and a few more hoops to jump through... but the fewer crowds is a small recompense.
Looking through the entrance to the choir.
Construction on the Choir of the Cathedral was begun in 1390.
If you know what you are looking for, you will find evidence of San Jordi, San Jorge, or Saint George (to list just a few of the translations of his name) all over Europe. He is the patron saint of Catalonia, Aragon, England, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa, and Venice (along with St. Mark). The symbol of San Jordi, a red cross on a white background, might be more famous than his name. After all, his cross forms the base of Great Britain's Union Jack, and of the flag of The Episcopal Church. It can even be found on the crest of Barça, Barcelona's world famous soccer club.
The Day of Saint George is April 23rd and is one of most popular celebrations in several parts of Europe, especially Barcelona. As a matter of fact, you cannot spend time in Cataluña without hearing something about a famous knight and a dragon.
So who was he? That depends on whether or not you can separate fact from fiction. He was born to Christian parents in the area of modern-day Turkey. His father was killed for his faith when George was a teenager. George became a soldier in the Roman army but, like his father, was killed in 303 AD for refusing to deny his Christian faith. By the 11th and 12th Centuries, Saint George had become the main hero in a legend where he slays a dragon to save a village in that was demanding human sacrifices. In the earliest versions of the legend, the village was in modern-day Turkey, then it was told as a village in Libya. But in the 13th Century a collection of biographies of the Christian saints called The Golden Legend became one of the most popular books in medieval Europe. Through the medieval romance version, Saint George was transformed into the hero of Europe.
Interestingly, the much more romantic Spanish version of the heroic Saint George changed the location of the village from Libya to a small village west of Barcelona called Montblanc. The village was founded in the year 1163. So the true miracle of Saint George might not have as much to do with slaying a dragon, as much as how he did it almost 900 years after his death, in a village on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea from where he lived. The Spanish version is also more romantic. After the dragon was slayed, the drops of red blood soaked into the soil and from them sprang red rose bushes. From the roses, Saint George selected the most beautiful of the red roses and presented it to the princess. And you guessed it, they lived happily ever after. To this day in Barcelona, San Jordi's Day is more romantic than St. Valentine's Day. Oh the power of fables and myths in our human experience!
The Cloister of the Cathedral of Barcelona
https://www.catedralbcn.org/
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