Barcelona's imposing Cathedral is located on the site of a Paleochristian basilica. For eight centuries, the church has grown and transformed, built on Visigoth and Roman ruins. It was the Gothic style, however, that gave it its sober and upright style, luminous and spacious. Although the main façade dates from the late nineteenth century, its neo-gothic style is faithful to the 1408 design and the complete structure has been called the greatest representation of Catalan Gothic architecture.

The Chapter House is home to a treasure house of Gothic masterpieces. One of the three chapels, the Santa Llucia chapel, offers a small example of Romanesque art. In the precincts of the cathedral, dedicated to Santa Cruz and Santa Eulalia, is to be found one of the most admired medieval cloisters of Spain, with slender arches, a garden of palms and magnolias, a fountain topped with the statue of Sant Jordi and geese living there. On the feast of Corpus, the fountain is adorned with the ou com balla, an egg balanced on top of the jet of water.