David's Diary: Wednesday, January 9, 2002

Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar

While school days can be up and down we do try and finish school by the early afternoon. This gives us a chance to relax, work on special projects, or as the case is today go and visit the places we are staying. Our goal today is Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar. Iglesia is Church and Mar is sea so this is the Church of Santa Maria of the Sea.

The church is located near Port Vell where we are staying on Dragonsinger. The church is open Spanish hours, which means that it is closed from 2:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon. We are still not used to Spanish hours and showed up just after 4:00 to find the church doors closed. A short walk around the neighbourhood was worthwhile to explore another little corner of the old town part of Barcelona. The church is located off very narrow streets, just barely wide enough for a car. The buildings go straight up five stories which makes the streets dark and close. In front of the church is Passeig del Born which opens up to let in the light. This plaza was where jousting tournaments took place in the Middle Ages and which was Barcelona's main square from the 13th to 18th centuries. We walked the wide plaza with its pedestrian area in the middle and then returned to the church just as it opened at 4:30.

Stained Glass

Unlike the other churches in the Bari Gothic area of Barcelona, Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar has simple decoration. But this simplicity makes the Catalan Gothic style of the building stand out. The interior is bright and spacious with a tall nave supported on slender octagonal pillars.

We slowly walked the church and viewed the side chapels. Even the boys, who normally find one church a month too much, liked the stained glass windows. The stained glass dates from the 15th to 18th centuries and some of the newer examples appear very modern. After two times around the church we headed back to the boat where the children could visit with Elan and Sally on Arbella. This was exactly the kind of day that we had imagined when we first thought of cruising the Mediterranean.