Exterior of cathedral

On the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Barcelona (1888), after nearly four years without doing great works in the cathedral, the promoter Manuel Girona i Agrafel and their children resumed the work, and was called the tender for the construction of facade in 1882.  They established criteria to follow the gothic style. It was awarded to Josep Oriol Mestres, head architect of the cathedral since 1855.  It was inspired by the traces in the year 1408 by Carles Galtes of Rouen.

The neo-Gothic facade is 40 meters wide, consisting of the cover, flanked by two tall towers with pinnacles and is decorated with all sorts of elements of Gothic style such as vertical lines and a great profusion of images of angels and saints.

The dome, designed by architect August Font i Carreras, has a height of 70 meters and was built between the years 1906 and 1913. The exterior of the crowning dome, concludes with the image of Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, who was said to find the true Cross, dedicated to the cathedral along with the Santa Eulalia.  This sculpture was made by artist Eduard Alentorn. At the terminations of the crest there are images of winged angels.

Doors
1 – Main Gate.
2 – Portal of St. Ivo.
3 – Gate of Mercy.
4 – Puerta de Santa Eulalia.
5 – Door of Saint Lucia.

There are five doors of the Cathedral of Barcelona

The Principal, in the center of the facade of the Cathedral Square. Designed by the architect Josep Oriol Mestres I, is a large Gothic arch with archivolts, chaired by Mainel is a sculpture of Christ, the sculptor Agapit Vallmitjana i Barbany, and on both sides of the door, images of the apostles. In the portico there are sculptures of angels, prophets and kings, in total 76 figures, together with the woodwork of the door these were made by the sculptor Joan Roig i Sole. On the inside, the medallions carved in stone in the arch of trasdos are the work of artist Antonio Clapera, representing the Ascension and Pentecost.

Portal of St. Ivo is the oldest and for five hundred years was the main entrance of the cathedral, on the cruise side of the Gospel. Their dedication is the front building, which for many years was the host of lawyers, the pattern of which is Saint Ivo. Made of marble and stone from the mountain of Montjuic, it is one of the first attempts of the ogival arch of the Gothic Catalan (1298). Above the pillars there are angel musicians.  In the tympanum is a picture of Santa Eulalia attributed to the school of Jaume Cascalls at the end of the fourteenth century, both sides are purely ornamental. On each side of the cover is done in marble reliefs of imposts that are created from the old Romanesque cathedral.

The Gate of Mercy.  It is one of the inputs outside the cloister, with an arch flanked by high conopial pinnacles carved with great finesse. In the tympanum there is a representation of Piedad, surrounded with symbols of the Passion.  This is work done by the sculptor Michael Lochner German, established in Barcelona since 1483. This facilitates the entry gate to the temple as it is in the corner of the entrance to the cruise side of the Epistle.

Puerto de Santa Eulalia. It is located in Bishop Street and the entrance is in the cloister, similar to the door of Piety and is constructed with an arch conopial and the eardrum is a sculpture of Santa Eulalia.  It is a reproduction of the original by sculptor Antonio Clapera. At the sides of the image are the arms of Bishop Francesc Climent Sapera.  The archivolts are carved with fine foliage.

Gate of Saint Lucia. It is the entrance to the chapel of the saint, the third gateway to the cloister. The door is Romanesque with five semicircular archivolts, backed by three home runs and two fine columns of circular bole smooth on both sides of the door, with carved capitals representing animal figures and characters, with decorations of plants.
Bell towers

From the end of the thirteenth century there are the two bell towers, from the early Gothic building, whose position corresponds to the ends of the transept. Both are ochava and 53 meters in height.

One of the towers is based on the entrance of San Ivo.  This bell tower is called Eulalia and is the largest at 3 tons.  The superstructure is made of iron and is beautifully decorated. It was built in the late nineteenth century in a modernist style. The other tower is in charge of the church hours. In it there are ten bells, all with female names.

Gargoyles
Gargoyle of the unicorn.

Like most Gothic cathedrals, the gargoyles of Barcelona represent imaginary animals such as lions and unicorns.  One of the most famous is the one that represents an elephant. The oldest are those of the apse to the side of the St. Ivo from the early fourteenth century. The faculty are gargoyles in the fifteenth century, and the four corners represent the symbols of the Evangelists.

Chapel of Saint Lucia
Status of the chapel of Saint Lucia.
Tomb of Francesc de Santa Coloma.

The chapel of Saint Lucia is located in a corner of the cloister with an outside entrance. It was built between 1257 and 1268 in a late Romanesque style, under the mandate of the bishop of Gurb Arnau (1252-1284).

It is a rectangular barrel vault and is pointed and very small.  It is built with voussoir, its facade is a door with arc archivolts and capitals carved with geometric figures and animals, in the center of its facade stands a small steeple with two holes.

The interior has two graves under two arcolosios, the epistle side of the Bishop Arnau Gurb and the canonical Francesc de Santa Coloma of the fourteenth century.   He had a side door that opened onto the street of the bishop, sealed in 1821, and also it currently has a rear door which allows access to the cloister.