Carrer dels Comtes — Street of Counts

Carrer dels Comtes is a medieval lane running along the Barcelona Cathedral's eastern wall, famous for its 600-year-old gargoyles and underlying fourth-century basilica ruins. Named after the Counts of Barcelona who built a royal palace there in the tenth century, the passage features roughly 200 gargoyle drainage spouts. Excavations beneath the street revealed white marble columns that once sheltered the relics of Saint Eulalia, martyred around 303 AD.

Barcelona · from the walk “Stones & Secrets: Hidden Courtyards of the Barri Gòtic” · audio ~4 min · Generated

Carrer dels Comtes, Barcelona

What historical ruins lie beneath Carrer dels Comtes in Barcelona?

Look up. Higher. Do you see them?... Dozens of stone creatures perched along the roofline, watching you from above. Welcome to Carrer dels Comtes — the Street of Counts — one of Barcelona's most atmospheric medieval lanes.......... This narrow passage runs along the eastern wall of the Cathedal, and it is named after the Counts of Barcelona, whose royal palace stood right here since the tenth century. But the real stars of this street aren't royalty. They're the gargoyles.......... The Barcelona Cathedal has around two hundred gargoyles keeping watch from its roofs and pinnacles. Most are the usual suspects — demons, dragons, grotesque monsters. But among them... you'll find a bull, an elephant, and — look carefully — a Unicorn. In the Middle Ages, the unicorn was believed to be a real animal, a symbol of purity and power. Its horn was said to possess magical abilities, bringing good fortune and even curing illness.......... Now, here's the delicious legend. Some of these gargoyles are said to be petrified Witches. The story goes that during the annual Corpus Christi procession, groups of witches gathered in the streets surrounding the Cathedal, where they shouted and Spat at the holy parade. As punishment... they were turned to stone and mounted onto the sacred walls for eternity.......... Of course, the gargoyles also served a very practical purpose — they're drainage spouts. Rainwater flows through canals on the roof and pours from their open mouths, keeping water from eroding the cathedral's stone walls.......... And speaking of the cathedral beneath these gargoyles — the ground you're standing on holds a secret! Excavations right Here, under this very street, revealed the remains of a paleo-Christian basilica from the Fourth century — white marble columns separating three naves. That ancient church once sheltered the relics of Saint Eulalia, Barcelona's co-patron, a thirteen-year-old girl martyred under Emperor Dioclecian around the year three hundred and three. The number thirteen haunts her story — thirteen tortures for her thirteen years of life. And inside the cloister just beyond these walls, thirteen white geese still waddle around a Gothic fountain in her memory.......... So take one more look at the roofline. Those stone creatures have been silently guarding this street for over six hundred years... and they have no intention of leaving.

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