New interactive guide to Barcelona Cathedral: More than meets the eye

NEWS


10 April, 2019

New interactive guide to Barcelona Cathedral: More than meets the eye

Every year Barcelona Cathedral hosts a music and dance performance in honour of Santa Eulalia, the patron saint of Barcelona. These images begin the new interactive audioguide to the Cathedral, promising an exciting journey through the eighteen centuries of history and legend in this beloved Barcelona landmark.

Cathedrals let us read our past in layers, showing how their architecture, art and religious rituals are reshaped over the centuries. This type of audiovisual guide makes it much easier to discover the details which could otherwise be missed in this book of Catalan history.

How else could visitors make out the traces of the 15th-century King’s Gallery built for Martin of Aragon? Or get a close-up view of the amazing polychromed bosses decorating the central vault? Some of them had to be hoisted into place by 45 sailors! Banquets were held to celebrate after each one. There are detailed pictures of all of them in the guide, explaining their subject matter.

  

As the Cathedral is both a tourist attraction and a house of worship, the guide includes two tours. The “Essentials” tour, recommended while Mass is being held, offers users a 360º virtual view of the choir, the undisputed highlight of the Cathedral. During Mass, the choir is occupied and closed to visitors. This way, worshippers and visitors can both enjoy it.

Although we recommend it for other heritage sites and museums, here we did not need to add numbers to the signs. Users can easily find their way around with the photographs which identify each space and the interactive map of the whole building, accessible via the menu.

Another outstanding space in the Cathedral is the Crypt of Santa Eulalia. Users of the guide can now see images of the sculpted scenes on this wonderful marble tomb, which are usually hidden from view.

Did you know that the famous geese in the cloister appear in one of the altarpieces? Would you recognise the sculptures by a slave who was set free as a reward for his beautiful art?  Now you can discover these and many more fascinating details with this interactive guide to Barcelona Cathedral! Available starting today, 10 April, in 6 languages and with subtitles to make it accessible for people with hearing loss.