January 8, 2018
On the metro this morning, we noticed that the signs were in 3 languages. My daughter recognized Spanish and English. The first language was actually Catalan. This language was suppressed during the Franco years, but appears to have made a strong comeback since 1975.
We had a nice walk through the Gothic quarter of the city, which is all pedestrianized. We happened upon the cathedral at 1:00, which is opening time. The crypt of St Eulalia is located underneath the church. She was an early Christian martyr from Barcelona and is the city's patron saint.
There is a side altar dedicated to the Madonna of Monserrat, with as statue of a black Madonna. The roof of the Cathedral us open to visitors, and provides a fine view of the city.
The back of the brochure we picked up up in arrival showed various highlights of the church, and there was one picture of geese that simply said "geese." While we thought that was an odd highlight, there are 16 geese in the Cathedral's courtyard, one for each year of St Eulalia's life. She tended sheep in her youth.
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