Collegiate Basilica of Santa Maria

At the top of the Puigcardener hill, next to the river Cardener, stands the basilica of Santa Maria (la Seu), one of the most representative examples of Catalan Gothic and the most emblematic building in Manresa. The church is also called as the Seu de Manresa, an improper name because it has never been the seat of a bishop.

It is a church with three very massive naves, with two different height levels. The highest level (30 meters) corespunde to the central nave, with ribbed vaults, large lateral stained glass windows and heptagonal apse without crossing. The second level, lower, corresponds to the side naves, also narrower (7.5 meters), and to the lateral chapels separated by the buttresses. The naves are separated by 18 octagonal columns and supported by external buttresses.

The construction was commissioned to Berenguer de Montagut, the master of works of the Santa Maria del Mar Church, in Barcelona. The works of the Gothic church lasted from 1328 until the end of the 15th century. Since the 16th century in the building have been incorporated elements conforming to the styles characteristic of each period, such as the baroque elements of the bell tower and the crypt, or the neo-Gothic facade and baptistery.

Highlights

✔ The interior. The central nave has a very austere decoration and is one of the largest Gothic naves in Europe (18.5 meters wide)..
✔ The main facade, neogothic, designed by Alexandre Soler i March and built between 1915 and 1934.
✔ The squared bell tower, 60 meters high, decorated with a clock, where you can climb up by a spiral staircase.
✔ The Baroque cloister, from the 18th century.
✔ The crypt.
✔ The set of Gothic altarpieces, one of the most interesting of this style in Catalonia. The Retable of the Holy Spirit, masterpiece of the painter Pere Serra, is the largest Gothic altarpiece preserved in Catalonia.