Following the line of the Sagrada Família, which with 4.7 million visitors in 2022 has consolidated as the most visited monument in the city, the archbishopric of Barcelona and Barcelona Turisme have launched the Barcino Sacra, a card with what they want to enhance visits to eight churches in the city. With the cathedral and the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar at the head, the route includes a heritage that dates from the 2nd to the 20th century and runs through the Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic periods.
The project began to take shape a year ago, “to make the heritage of the church more accessible”, explained yesterday Josep Maria Turull, director of the diocesan Secretariat of Tourism and commissioner of the archbishopric’s Barcino Sacra. The initiative has made it possible to weave the route to facilitate visits, deepen the cultural, historical and artistic value of each of the monuments and, at the same time, mark a turning point in terms of the number of visitors.
The joint entrance includes the old monastery of Sant Pau del Camp (a Romanesque gem), the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi (the entrance to the Roman city), the Oratory of Sant Felip Neri (a Baroque pearl), the Casa de l’Almoina (the charity building of the cathedral), Santa Maria del Mar (paradigmatic Gothic), the old monastery of Sant Pere de les Puel·les (with 1,200 years of history) and the temple espiatory of the Sacred Heart of Tibidabo, one of the best vantage points over the city. And in addition to all these points, the cathedral, which last year had 1.7 million visits, “of which 600,000 were tourist”, explained Turull. Behind it, Santa Maria del Mar, which registered 150,000 cultural and tourist visits last year, a number that is also expected to increase from now on.
The timetable for entering all these monuments – which until now could be visited separately – has been standardized to facilitate access. The card allows the visit from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and in some cases also on Sunday. The price of the Barcino Sacra, which is valid for three days, will be 47 euros for adults, 42 for students and 17 euros for children between 3 and 15 years old. “The card means a 15% discount as a whole and aims to be a new attraction both for foreign tourism, especially for repeat visitors, and for the people of Barcelona, ??who will be able to discover new spaces and delve into its history”, agreed the its drivers
The president of Barcelona Tourism, Eduard Torres, emphasized the importance of “putting culture at the center of the tourist story” and added that “the Barcino Sacra is an embryo to be able to explain other religious monuments outside of Barcelona”, a proposal to which was added the archbishop of Barcelona, ??Cardinal Joan Josep Omella, who suggested that “this model can be extended to all of Catalonia”.
The card can be purchased at each of the eight monuments along the route and also at the information office of the cathedral, which served 144,830 people last year and has been renovated and expanded.
