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Sant Pau del Camp Review

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Sant Pau del Camp

Address: Sant Pau 101, Raval, Barcelona, Catalonia, 08004
Phone: 93/441-0001

Category: Religious Sites
Location: Ciutat Vella (Old City)

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Fodor's Review:

Barcelona's oldest church was originally outside the city walls (del camp means "in the fields") and was a Roman cemetery as far back as the 2nd century, according to archaeological evidence. What you see now was built in 1127 and is the earliest Romanesque structure in Barcelona, redolent of the pre-Romanesque Asturian churches or the pre-Romanesque Sant Michel de Cuxà in Prades, Catalunya Nord (Catalonia North, aka southern France). Elements of the church (the classical marble capitals atop the columns in the main entry) are thought to be from the 6th and 7th centuries. The hulking mastodonic shape of the church is a reflection of the defensive mentality of Barcelona's early Christians, for whom the bulwark of the church served as a spiritual, if not physical, refuge during an era of Moorish sackings and invasions. Check for musical performances here because the church is an acoustical gem. Note the tiny stained-glass window high on the facade facing Carrer Sant Pau. If Santa Maria del Pi's rose window is Europe's largest, this is quite probably the smallest. The tiny cloister, the only way in during afternoon opening hours, is Sant Pau del Camp's best feature, one of Barcelona's semisecret treasures. From inside the church, the right side of the altar leads out into this patio surrounded by porches or arcades. Sculpted Corinthian capitals portraying biblical scenes support triple Mudejar arches.

Open: Cloister weekdays 4:30-7:30. Sun. mass at 10:30, 12:30, and 8PM
Metro: Catalunya, Liceu, Paral.lel

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