MUNZER: Barcelona Cathedral
“In the center, on a knoll, is the magnificent and superb Cathedral and Episcopal seat, dedicated in honor of the Holy Cross. This building is extraordinarily delicate, and in its periphery are more than twenty altars with magnificent and gilded panels, and an excellent library and a garden with orange trees, lemon trees and cypresses.
We were shown the great treasures of that church. Among other things, there was a beautiful monstrance, of about ninety four marks of purest gold, and decorated with so many pearls and precious stones, that it caused stupefaction. The church is also constructed in a surprising manner. Below the choir is the crypt, where the body of the virgin Saint Eulalia reposes, whom Diocletian crowned with martyrdom. In that crypt twenty lamps burn continuously. I ascended its [the Cathedral's] highest tower, as from a rampart; I contemplated at my leisure the city and its situation. Oh, what a splendid spectacle!
What Münzer Saw:
The Cathedral, of course, is still there, and Münzer would have seen the same basic structure as we do now. But there have been changes: a choir was added in the 16th century in the nave, the retablos, cleaned, restored and illuminated now by spotlights would have been brightly colored, but less visible. Whether they were lit or not would depend on who donated the oil lamps and candles that lit them, and if they had curtains over them or not. Though there are several of the 15th-century altarpieces still in chapels, none is in its original location. The cloister still has its lush foliage and citrus trees, as well as a resident flock of geese. The flock is dedicated to St. Eulalia, whose crypt can still be seen, though the modern illumination is controlled by a money-box by its grill.
One thing that’s there now that Münzer never saw was the “Gothic” façade of the Cathedral. It’s 19th century. In Münzer’s day, it was a blank wall.
The complex, 3-part monstrance is now in the Cathedral museum, along with some other precious objects, it is still magnificent, though now in a plexi-glass case. The view from the roof (towers are closed to visitors) is not particularly impressive (more on this later)
MUNZER: Other Religious Structures:
“The city has within its wall and beyond it, in an area of two leagues, more than thirty monasteries of monks and nuns, and I think that the city is twice as big as Nüremberg. For the most part, all the houses are constructed of dressed stone.
[The Convent of the Minor Brothers]: Near this house is the major monastery of the Order of Saint Francis, near the seashore. In the center of it there is another monastery, small, with a little cloister, refectory, cells and a small church, like a crypt, which Saint Francis had constructed, where he lived rigorously for some years, when the city was small. The church has just one square window, with iron bars, through which the sailors used to hear the Saint saying mass and preaching. Today, it still contains an ancient and simple image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that was the adornment of this church, but it is beginning to crumble. Also found in the choir of the church of San Francis are the magnificent tombs of the Kings of Aragon. We contemplated the embalmed body of a Queen who had died eighty years ago, but is still intact. There is also a beautiful painting in the choir. There is a wonderful garden, watered by a mule, which drives a chain pump that continually takes water from a well that waters the entire garden by means of some canals.
The Monastery of Saint Dominic is also admirable, and in some aspects, not inferior to the preceding one mentioned. In both churches hang innumerable banners of the nobles buried there, that results in a handsome and magnificent spectacle.”
What Münzer saw:
The churches of Santa Maria del Mar, Santa Maria del Pi and Sants Just i Pastor all more or less survive, now cleaned up and pristine—there have been many additions and subtractions over the years. The monasteries and convents are another thing. All were closed at the time of the 1835 exclaustration edicts, and most never recovered. What wasn’t destroyed then was damaged in 1909 and again in 1936. The Franciscan monastery is totally gone, except for one alley called the Passatge del Dormatori de San Francesc, near the port. The Dominican mastery of Santa Catalina has morphed into a big city Market (still called Santa Catalina). The tomb of the Queen that Münzer mentins, Sibil.la de Fortià still exists, she’s in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, but is presently in hiding in storage
Münzer: Public Buildings
"[The Merchants' Exchange]:" A magnificent and superb house with a cupola is constructed by the sea, that one would think was a church or a great palace. Next to this building is a beautiful garden with ten rows of orange and lemon trees and in the center a dancing fountain, and on all four sides rectangular stone seats. In this building, twice a day, the merchants meet to carry on their business. The named it the llotja, that is, the exchange house. In it, there is a money exchange and a wisely regulated bank, to keep money.
[The Council Hall]: The city of Barcelona has a magnificent Council Hall, with a lovely garden and great palaces where the councilors—noble gentlemen—meet and settle the matters referring to the city. They showed us a big room full of books, that you would think was a library, where they preserve writings in a book for each year, and not only those that pertain to the tributes and to the government, but many other matters. And thus, when someone has a doubt about some matter that occurred many years before, he can know the year and the day; thanks to these journals, he can inquire about them with certainty."
What Münzer Saw:
The Llotja, or Merchant’s exchange exists, though now encased in a neoclassic shell with no garden. The original great exchange hall is within, and is now used for event functions. The Council Hall is also still in existence, though it too is fronted with a much later façade. If you wish to visit it, however, you have to be in the city on April 24th, Saint George’s day, when it’s open to the public.
Munzer: A palace:
"[The House of the Prince don Enrique]: The prince, don Enrique, who died in the bombardment of Naples in 1453, left a son of the same name. King Fernando, who is presently King of Spain, and the former, were the sons of two brothers. The prince decided for a life of idleness and pleasures rather than war. It was he who had constructed near the church of Saint Francis, such a superb and grandiose mansion, that no other can compare to it. We saw there a species of gazelle, which is an animal that has musk. It is bigger than a fox; the head, mouth and ears similar to an ermine, its color, blackish, scattered with many gray and white spots; the tail and paws of a dog; it is an angry and furious animal…….. Then they showed us a parrot as big as a grackle or a magpie, which was all white and gray, painted with various colors, primarily on the neck, like the falcons and sparrow hawks of Germany."
What Münzer Saw:
This palace is long gone, though there are several 15th century palaces in the Ciudat Vella—the best known are those preserved on the Carrer Montcada, one of which now houses the Picasso Museum. Less known is part of one to be found on Carrer Regomir,
Nobody in Spain has private animal collections, popular among wealthy nobles in the 15th century. But Barcelona has an excellent zoo.
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