Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona

Santa Maria del Mar is a church whose calm, compact exterior hides a surprisingly spacious interior. It is a major work of Catalan Gothic, designed by Berenguer de Montagut. The façade presents a strong sense of horizontality: broad wall surfaces, mouldings and terraces keep the composition grounded, while octagonal towers frame the rose window and the powerful buttresses.

The narrow openings along the side correspond to chapels within the church. The building grew from the community of La Ribera. The construction agreement was signed in 1329, and work reached completion in 1383.

Local parishioners paid for the project or contributed their labour, with the dock workers known as bastaixos carrying huge stones from Montjuïc and the beaches to the building site. Their contribution remains visible in the capitals and in the bronze reliefs on the doors. Look at the commemorative inscription beside the Passion or Moreres doorway: it records the beginning of the works in Latin and Catalan.

The church later suffered a devastating fire in 1936, which destroyed its interior decoration. Restoration began in 1966, and the present character of the building brings together medieval structure, later repair and the memory of the people who physically raised it.