Barcelona Cathedral: The Thirteen White Geese of Santa Eulàlia

Why is it significant?

Stand in the wide stone plaza of Pla de la Seu and look up at the soaring Neo-Gothic spires and gargoyles of Barcelona Cathedral.

Key Facts

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Stand in the wide stone plaza of Pla de la Seu and look up at the soaring Neo-Gothic spires and gargoyles of Barcelona Cathedral. While construction of this cathedral began in twelve ninety-eight over ancient Roman and Visigothic basilicas, the ornate main facade was only completed in nineteen thirteen for the Universal Exhibition. Step into the palm-shaded Gothic cloister and listen to the bubbling sound of the fountain and the honking of geese. In the lush central garden live thirteen snow-white geese. Why exactly thirteen? They commemorate Saint Eulàlia, the thirteen-year-old goose girl and patron saint of Barcelona, who suffered thirteen horrific tortures under Roman Emperor Diocletian in the year three zero four for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. In the dark crypt beneath the high altar lies Eulàlia's alabaster sarcophagus, sculpted in Pisa in thirteen twenty-seven. Every year on the feast of Corpus Christi, the cloister fountain hosts L'Ou com Balla, the Dancing Egg, where an empty eggshell mysteriously balances and dances on the jet of water. Exit into the narrow cobblestone canyon toward Plaça del Rei.