Casas de los canónigos

The so-called House of Canons is actually a complex of three buildings and in Catalan it sounds like Cases dels Canonges (Houses of Canons). Initially, these were separate stone buildings built in the 11th-13th centuries on the foundations of ancient Roman ruins. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area behind the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia began to be inhabited by clergymen, members of the cathedral chapter (canons), who led a communal lifestyle according to the rule of St. Augustine. By the middle of the 15th century, the quarter had finally passed into the individual ownership of the cathedral's clergy. The canons completely built up the quarter with stone houses, mostly in the late Gothic style: the houses looked like impregnable fortresses with massive stone walls and small windows. Gradually, the streets of the Gothic Quarter turned into narrow and dark labyrinths, and dignitaries began to move to more comfortable areas, selling houses to secular citizens. Houses were mostly bought for renting out rooms, so the owners sought to increase their living space. Windows were cut through the powerful walls, new floors were built, the interior spaces turned into intricate labyrinths of rooms and passages, numerous outbuildings and sheds crowded into the courtyards. By the beginning of the 20th century, the quarter had fallen into complete disrepair, where only the poor lived very densely and there was terrible unsanitary conditions, wooden floors were rotting, facades were crumbling. In 1927, the provincial council decided to put the block in order and use it to house government offices. The facades that we see now have nothing to do with the Middle Ages. The renovation project was led by prominent architects Jeroni Martorell and Joan Rubió i Bellver. They carried out a radical redesign of the interiors, added new Gothic windows and decorative elements to the facades, including unbroken graffiti on the side walls. The famous Neo-Gothic Bishop's Bridge (Pont del Bisbe), which connected the Houses of the Canons with the Palace of the Geralitat of Catalonia opposite, was built in 1928 by Joan Rubio. Currently, three buildings of different architectural styles can be distinguished in the complex: the house on Carrer del Bisbe, 4 with a strict Gothic facade and the Bishop's Bridge, the house on Carrer de la Pietat, 2 with an unbroken facade decorated in sgraffito technique and the Gothic house behind the altar of the Cathedral, on Carrer de la Pietat, 4-6.

Carrer del Bisbe, 4

Bishop's Bridge.

Carrer de la Pietat, 2.

Carrer de la Pietat, 4.

..