I’m sure you’ve seen it at some point, but you haven’t noticed it. Or you have not been told its story. Or, simply, no one has been able to explain why from the sea of Barcelona you can see a statue that seems bigger than the buildings that surround it. It is the statue of the basilica of La Mercè, the statue of the patron saint of the city that has most suffered the ups and downs of history, including the disappearance by a bombing, a controversial reconstruction and even a reform paid by a brand of luxury champagne.
The statue, hidden in the Gothic Quarter, may seem like just another one, but its disproportionate size (now that you know it you’ll notice) and its history explain almost step by step the recent history of the city. We tell you about it taking advantage of the arrival of the festa major.
The statue cast to make cannons
The basilica of La Mercè, in the Plaça de la Mercè (and which articulates the neighborhood of La Mercè, south of the Gothic quarter), was built between 1765 and 1775, replacing an earlier Gothic temple, to house an order, that of La Merced, born in 1218 for the redemption of Christian captives.
But what interests us, the statue that crowns the dome of the building (and that can be seen from several points of the city) is later. It was built in 1888 and was smaller than the current one. It lasted barely 40 years, until the Civil War, when it was destroyed to reuse its metal in the manufacture of armaments.
After having lost its statue to turn it into bullets and cannons, the church would still take 20 more years to re-crown its building.
A disproportionate statue refurbished by a luxury champagne
In 1959 the statue was replaced, but not without controversy. In the midst of the dictatorship, it was decided that the bronze for the new statue would come from the casting of several historical statues that had been removed from the Salón de San Juan, including figures such as Guifré el Pilós and Ramon Berenguer el Viejo, important figures in the history of Catalonia, thus replacing this history with the religious ass, in a metaphor for the dictatorship. The statues of this series that were left standing are still in the open air, in front of the Arc de Triomf.
For unknown reasons, the new statue is absolutely disproportionate, with 7 meters high (similar measures to those of the dome that supports it), which causes, yes, an interesting effect: the views from the cale Carabassa or, better from the Passeig Colon, facing the sea, allow to see a giant and powerful Mercè that “levitates” over all the adjacent buildings of the Gothic Quarter.
In 1990, a significant restoration was carried out, financed by Moët & Chandon as part of a campaign to beautify Barcelona, “Barcelona posat’ guapa”. During this restoration, a team of professional climbers carried out a thorough cleaning and its support was consolidated in 1997 due to signs of deterioration.
Currently,the church and its statue are somewhat forgotten in the depths of the Gòtic, but surely now that you know this story you’ll look at it with different eyes the next time you see it protruding from the rooftops of the city.