Region of Barcelona

You can see the film here

Address
Pl. del Rei, 1
08002 Barcelona (Barcelonès)
Tel. 93 316 27 40

Visit
Visitable in combination with the City History Museum.

What you will find there

The chapel of the former royal palace in Barcelona is a work of great beauty, the sobriety of which is typical of Catalan Gothic architecture. It is built on top ,of the late Roman period city wall, and consists of a single aisle with a small transept, two chapels and a gallery. It has a double-pitched wooden roof, and the ceiling contains richly carved and painted woodwork.

In 1302, as part of the refurbishment of the royal palace for which king Jaume II sought the services of the master-mason Bertran Riquer, a further tower of the Roman wall was acquired upon which to construct it. From then onwards the works advanced swiftly, and were continued under the reign of Pere el Cerimoniós (1336-1387).

It was originally dedicated to Saint Mary, but the dedication changed on several occasions, until in 1601, when a papal bull confirmed the dedication to Santa Àgata on the grounds of the relics that were kept there.

Dominating the chapel is the work known as the Conestable retable, painted in 1465 by Jaume Huguet during the brief reign of the king Pere of Catalonia, Constable of Portugal, who commissioned the work. The central motif of the Epiphany is considered a masterpiece of Catalan Gothic painting. Other interesting items are the Santa Àgata panel by master Burgo de Osma (15th century) and, in the gallery, the graffiti that have been preserved there.

The octagonal bell-tower is topped by 8 triangular pediments that seem to represent a royal crown, and it is slightly out of vertical, in all probability as a result of the earthquake that affected the city in the 15th century.