Located on the Plaça del Pi, many tourists miss this Gothic gem as they troop up from La Rambla towards the Catedral. However, it is a beautiful building with some unique features and work has been put in to create an interesting visitor attraction.
It boasts an appropriately dark and somewhat dank crypt in which is screened a documentary (in Castilian) about the church, a treasury with all the church's finery on display and a small museum, with lots of photographs, artifacts and information in multiple languages.
Being overlooked by many tourists does mean that for those who venture into the church, it is quiet, relatively cool and a veritable oasis compared to the bustle of the surrounding streets. It retains the feel of a working church and has walls lined with lovely, if rather dusty, chapels and flickering votive candles.
A large rose-stained glass window above the entrance is claimed by the church to be the largest in the world. Much of the stained glass of the church was destroyed by a fire in the Thirties, meaning most of the windows today were put in by Catalan artists in the later 20th century. However, although there are older windows still in place in the Catedral, here the more recent creations are definitely shown off to their best advantage by lots of streaming sunshine and the dark stone of the Gothic walls.
PROS
· Given its size, this Church definitely packs a punch in terms of things to admire and explore.
· The small museum does an admirable job of weaving the Church's history with some of the tumultuous events in Barcelona's past, from its role in the city siege of 1714 to the ransacking by anarchists in 1936.
CONS
· If ecclesiastical architecture isn't your cup of tea you may struggle to find much to hold your attention beyond the museum.
More info: entrance costs €3 for adults and €2 for concessions; children under 12 are free.