Fossar de les Moreres (Cemetery of the Mulberry Trees)

Fossar de les Moreres (Cemetery of the Mulberry Trees) Review

This low marble monument runs across the eastern side of the church of Santa Maria del Mar. It honors defenders of Barcelona who gave their lives in the final siege that ended the War of the Spanish Succession on September 11, 1714. The inscription (in English: "in the cemetery of the mulberry trees no traitor lies") refers to the graveyard keeper's story. He refused to bury those on the invading side, even when one turned out to be his son. This is the traditional gathering place for the most radical elements of Catalonia's nationalist (separatist) movement, on the Catalonian national day, which celebrates the heroic defeat.

From the cemetery, look back at Santa Maria del Mar. The lighter-color stone on the lateral facade was left by the 17th-century Pont del Palau (Palace Bridge), erected to connect the Royal Palace in the nearby Pla del Palau with the Tribuna Real (Royal Box) over the right side of the Santa Maria del Mar altar, so that nobles and occupying military officials could get to mass without the risk of walking in the streets. The bridge, regarded as a symbol of imperialist oppression, was finally dismantled in 1987. The controversial steel arch with its Bunsen burnerlike eternal flame was erected in 2002.