Second only in its fame to Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, the Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia is the most impressive Gothic church in Barcelona (and an attraction no Spain trip should go without!). Though small compared to Gaudi’s masterpiece, la Catedral is not without its own magnificence. The vaulted ceilings, the gargoyles adorning the outside, the choir stalls, chapels, and cloister. The whole scene is lent an ethereal quality by the light flowing down from the stained glass windows.

Where Gaudi’s church seemed designed to take maximum advantage of the light in order to illuminate the entire church, the Gothic structure of la Catedral seems designed to highlight rather than illuminate. Traveling without a tripod for the day, and with conditions inside the church making longer-exposures and/or HDR shooting cumbersome, I hoped instead to capture the feeling of illumination by focusing on those highlights and the shadows they pushed away.

La Catedral Barcelona - 1

La Catedral Barcelona - 2

La Catedral Barcelona - 3
Buy this print

La Catedral Barcelona - 4

La Catedral Barcelona - 5
Buy this print
La Catedral Barcelona - 7
Buy this print
La Catedral Barcelona - 8
Buy this print

La Catedral Barcelona - 4