Pla de la Seu,
Jaume I

Barcelona's gothic cathedral stands on a site that's been used for worship ever since Roman feet trod the ancient city's streets. Dedicated to Saint Eulàlia, patron saint of Barcelona, it was built mainly during the fourteenth century, but includes a facade added much later in the 19th century.

Manuel Girona i Agrafel, a wealthy Barcelonian financier (and once mayor of the city), put up the money for the 'modern' front which replaced the plain gothic original. Girona’s facade was completed in the revival style of the 1890s. Is it a mere co-incidence that this ecclesiastical splendour now houses the mortal remains of its wealthy benefactor?

Robert Hughes tells us in his book 'Barcelona', that, in life, Girona was not so frequently recognised for his generosity. In fact his meanness was well known. Once, for example, when his clerk asked for a small advance to buy some false teeth to replace those he had lost, Girona declined. He decided instead to lecture the poor old goat; telling him that it was God's will that he should eat less meat and take more green soups. Hughes also tells us of Girona's penny-pinching plan to rid the city of its debts by building swathes of tenement blocks along the centres of the city's wider streets. A plan thankfully rejected by the city fathers.

contributor: Nigel Hayler