Catholic Shrines & Places of Interest in Barcelona, Spain

About Barcelona:

One of Spain’s most beautiful and vibrant cities, Barcelona is about 400 miles south of Madrid on the beautiful Mediterranean coast.  It is a popular destination for many, including being a port of call for several cruise lines.

Barcelona has an atmosphere of its own, and even its own dialect: Catalonian, since it is the capital of the area of Spain known as Catalonia. Las Ramblas, a large boulevard which runs through the city center, is one of most interesting sites for tourists. It runs from Port Vell (near the cruise port terminal) to Plaça de Catalunya.

There are many interesting churches and shrines in Barcelona, as you might expect. Below are some of the most visited sights in the city.

Catholic places of interest in Barcelona:

Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar:  perfect example of a complete Gothic style church.

Cathedral of the Holy Cross:  tomb of Saint & Eulila & Cross of Lepanto.

La Sagrada Familia: Iconic Church, still unfinished 140 years after its construction began,

Templo Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)

Near Barcelona:

Vic: Tomb of Saint Anthony Mary Claret in The Claritian House of Spirituality.

Traveling to Barcelona:

By plane: Barcelona has a major international airport, El Prat International Airport (Code BCN). 

By ship: Barcelona is also a popular cruise port, with many Mediterranean cruises departing from the port--either returning here or going on to Italy and other Mediterranean ports. m If you plan on taking one of these cruises, we suggest that you arrive a few days prior to the cruise to savor the sites of Barcelona.  And don’t overlook an re-positioning cruises that might include Barcelona.

By train:  There is more than one station in Barcelona. Barcelona Sants (Estació de Barcelona Sants or Sants Estació) is the main railway station in Barcelona, Spain, handling the majority of high-speed (AVE), long-distance, regional, suburban (Rodalies de Catalunya), and international services (including to France via Renfe-SNCF). It is located at Plaça dels Països Catalans, 08014 Barcelona (in the Sants-Montjuïc district, a bit west of the city center).

Other notable train stations include Estació de França (second busiest for some regional/long-distance services, more historic and central) and Passeig de Gràcia (mainly regional and metro), but Barcelona Sants is the main one overall.

For independent travelers: Barcelona has a comprehensive network of tourist offices and information points available to visitors. Turisme de Barcelona is at your disposal to guide you wherever you are and offer you tourist products and services that will help you discover Barcelona. Barcelona Airport Tourist Office and Barcelona Tourist Information Centre in Plaça Catalunya are some of the key locations where you can find assistance and information about the city.  Here is the official website of Turisme de Barcelona.  

Water shortages have plagued the city in recent years, resulting in cutting off water to public fountains and showers at beaches, along many other attempts to reduce consumption, so don’t count on getting water in restaurants. To combat this shortage, Barcelona and the wider Catalan region are investing heavily in non-rainfall-dependent water sources like desalination and reclaimed water, and improving water infrastructure to prevent future emergencies.

⇐ Back to Catholic places of interest in Spain