Replying to another forum member asking about churches and cathedrals in Barcelona. I figured it was better to put this in a separate post so others interested can find it more easily.
As far as what we're into...we enjoy historical sites and events, museums, churches/cathedrals (especially my husband), music, parks, and cultural events.
CHURCHES, BASILICAS AND CATHEDRALS IN BARCELONA
I won’t be much help from a religious angle as I am not, but from an architectural and historical point of view, I can definitely point you in the right direction.
If you zoom out a bit, Barcelona has a surprisingly high number of religious buildings overall for its population. This comes from a mix of factors: its long historical role as a religious and political centre in Southern Europe, from Roman times through the medieval period (roughly 1st century BC to 15th century), the strong presence of the Church in later centuries, and more recently, from the late 20th century onwards, the arrival of new communities that have added their own places of worship to the city.
Beyond the main churches and landmarks, the city is home to roughly 300–400 places of worship, from Catholic churches and chapels to Protestant and evangelical congregations, mosques and prayer rooms, a handful of synagogues, and communities like Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh. It reflects both the city’s long history and its present-day diversity, with people from over 120 different cultural backgrounds, roughly one in five residents born abroad, and if you set aside the large waves of Spanish migration into Catalonia in the 20th century, perhaps only half of the residents would be considered locally rooted over generations.
Here are some examples:
Sagrada Família (by Gaudí)
Still under construction after more than a century, which already tells you a lot about its sheer scale and ambition. Unlike most religious buildings elsewhere, it hasn’t been funded by state or church subsidies; it’s been built mainly through private local donations (and more recently, also ticket sales), which explains the pace. It’s Gaudí at his most ambitious, mixing nature, symbolism, and engineering in a way that’s completely unique. And once inside, the light coming through the stained glass is something else; it completely transforms the space throughout the day. Love it or hate it, there’s nothing else like it.
Barcelona Cathedral (La Seu)
Classic Gothic cathedral right in the old city. The main façade you see today is actually a 19th-century work, even if it looks medieval. The cathedral itself dates mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries and was built on top of earlier religious sites, including a Roman temple and later Christian structures, so you’re literally standing on layers of the city’s history. It has long been at the heart of Barcelona’s religious and civic life, hosting major ceremonies and events over the centuries. Don’t miss the cloister with the geese, yes, real ones, slightly surreal but very much part of the place. There's a reason for these... "geese Eulàlia Roman Barcelona" google it up! :) Also, under the current cathedral and nearby areas, there are remains of early Christian basilicas, a baptistery, and Visigothic structures (4th–7th centuries). You can actually visit some of these through the city history museum (MUHBA). It’s one of the best ways to see how Christianity took root here.
--part 1 of 3--