A small hermitage survives, among the many that once populated Montjuïc, next to the MNAC and in a corner of the Albéniz mansion. It is the hermitage dedicated to Santa Madrona. The building is documented as early as the fifteenth century. Its access is currently restricted and it remains closed. Today we discover its interior.
The hermitage is small and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The last one, in 1754, according to an inscription on the door. It has a rectangular floor plan, no furniture and the walls covered with white plaster, although some remains of fresco paintings are still visible. The altar is made of stone, and on it, an image of the saint.
Santa Madrona is the patron saint of the lesser-known city, after Santa Eulàlia and La Mercè. According to legend, she was a young woman born in Barcelona at the time of Emperor Diocletian, in the third century after Jesus Christ. She went to live in the Greek city of Thessalonica, where she served in a house. When it was discovered that she was a Christian, she was martyred.
Over time, and to prevent his incorrupt body from being venerated, it was sold to some merchants in Marseille, but a storm took the ship in which they were traveling to near Montjuïc. The sailors disembarked and left the body in the then hermitage of Sant Fruitós. Always according to legend, every time they tried to embark again for Marseilles, it rained, until they interpreted that the saint’s wish was to stay in her hometown. Thus, the hermitage began to be known as Santa Madrona, which the Consell de Cent named patron saint in 1563.
The hermitage was destroyed in 1652 and rebuilt in 1661. Demolished again in 1713, during the War of Succession, and raised again in 1754. In 1907 and 1947 it was restored. Due to these events, the remains of the patron saint were transferred on several occasions, until they ended up in the church of Santa Madrona, built in Poble Sec in 1871, but they were burned during the Setmana Tràgica. Only a small relic survived that is preserved in the aforementioned parish.
Until 2019, once a year the hermitage was opened during the Aplec de Santa Madrona. The procession has been suspended for the time being due to the pandemic.
