Seen from today’s perspective, it is hard to recognize this atmosphere encased in one of the sides of something as noble as the church of Santa Maria del Mar. The superb side facade emerges shyly to the left, largely hidden by the stalls that disfigure it.
This is Carrer de Santa Maria, which exists between the square of the same name and Passeig del Born. The photograph was taken at the beginning of the twenties and focused towards the aforementioned promenade.
In fact, it appeared transformed into a kind of open-air market. It is surprising that the stalls could be back-to-back on this facade; some stops were removable, although despite this condition they enjoyed a stable character. This situation had been consolidated thanks to the fact that the church obtained some money in exchange for accepting their presence. This is why a similar landscape was created in noble points such as the facades of the Virreina palace or the Santa Creu hospital.
The origin of this landscape was due to the expansive force exerted by the Born jade market since its inauguration. The surroundings were soon transfigured; suffice it to say that Carrer Montcada, a high-level street, suffered an environmental drift that lowered its category.
The central presence of the high construction which, like a bridge, saves the street undoubtedly marked this environment. This is the corridor that the Prince of Darmstadt had built between his viceregal palace and the basilica, in order to protect his threatened security and avoid going down to the street. This work explains the forced profile that Fossar de les Moreres acquired at the time.
It had been built in 1700 without any ornamental pretensions: a simple corridor. It was demolished by the constitutionalists in 1823, but a political upheaval rebuilt it with deplorable functionality and simplicity, as you can see in the picture.
The fire at the Royal Palace led to the removal of part of the corridor, but the rest was maintained until the pre-Olympic years.
In the process of rehabilitating the enclave, the desirability of its permanence was discussed. Good sense was finally prioritized and it was demolished, a fact that allowed to enhance and above all to dignify such a representative and sensitive historical place. It was carried out with undoubted success.
