The stone carriers
The bastaixos, the port's porters, carried stone on their backs from the Montjuïc quarry to the building site. Their figures are on the bronze main doors.
Urban Tales › Barcelona › Santa Maria del Mar
Santa Maria del Mar: built by the dockworkers
Begun in 1329 in the seafaring Ribera neighbourhood, Santa Maria del Mar was paid for and built by its own parishioners. It's one of the purest examples of Catalan Gothic.
Begun1329
Vault closed1345
StyleCatalan Gothic
Built bythe Ribera parishioners
Hear the Santa Maria del Mar story, in the app's voice
A short preview. The full story plays on its own when you walk up to it with Urban Tales.
Three stories most visitors miss
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Fast for its time
The last section of the vault was placed in 1345, only 16 years after work began, and the first mass was said the following year.
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Why it's so bare
In 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War, the church burned for days and lost its altars and furnishings. The emptiness that's left shows off its slender columns and wide space.
TipGo early or late in the day, when the light through the rose window is softest, and look at the porters on the bronze doors on your way in. With Urban Tales running, its story plays as you reach the square.
Nearby landmarks
Santa Maria del Mar: common questions
Who built Santa Maria del Mar?
The people of the Ribera neighbourhood: merchants, sailors and the bastaixos, the port porters who carried the stone. It was begun in 1329.
Why is the inside of Santa Maria del Mar so plain?
A fire in 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War, destroyed most of its altars and decoration.
Is Santa Maria del Mar the cathedral from the novel?
Yes. Ildefonso Falcones' novel Cathedral of the Sea tells the story of its construction.