Baixada de Santa Eulàlia and the Cathedral

Barcelona · Spain · Church

Down this steep lane thirteen-year-old Eulàlia was rolled in a barrel full of knives – and in the cathedral where she rests, thirteen white geese keep her memory.

The slope of Baixada de Santa Eulàlia in the Gothic Quarter is named after Barcelona's patron saint, the thirteen-year-old girl who defied the Roman governor in the year 303 during Diocletian's persecutions. Legend says she suffered thirteen torments – one for each year of her life – and in one of them she was sealed inside a barrel studded with knives and broken glass and rolled down this very lane. When she finally died on a cross, a sudden snowfall covered her body. She rests in the cathedral crypt, where thirteen white geese are still kept in the cloister in her memory. The legend holds that her pale figure appears in the lane, and that a Visigothic king lies forgotten beneath the cathedral's foundations.

FAQ

Where is Baixada de Santa Eulàlia and the Cathedral located?

Baixada de Santa Eulàlia and the Cathedral is in Barcelona, Spain.

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