Plaça Sant Felip Neri

Plaça Sant Felip Neri, a haven steeped in memory

The Barcelona audio-guided tour invites you to quiet contemplation on the small Plaça Sant Felip Neri, secret and quiet amid the bustle of the city. It takes its name from the baroque church that presides over it, a rare building of this style in Barcelona, built in the eighteenth century.

A former cemetery of the condemned

The church was built as a dependency of the convent of the congregation of the Oratory, a society of priests. The square was laid out on a former medieval cemetery, sadly nicknamed the cemetery of the condemned: it was here that those sentenced to death and certain executioners were buried. In the seventeenth century, it was called the pit of Nazareth, and the cemetery was overwhelmed during the great plague epidemic. This painful past deserves to be evoked with gravity and respect.

What there is to see

At the centre of the square, an octagonal fountain, once surmounted by a statue, brings a peaceful note. The façades bear traces of the past that add to the solemn and moving atmosphere of the place. Away from the crowd, it is one of the corners most steeped in history and contemplation of the Gothic quarter, to be discovered in silence.

Practical information

Plaça Sant Felip Neri hides in the heart of the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, near the cathedral. It is a public space freely accessible at all hours and on the level. A place of memory and quiet, it invites a visit marked by respect.

Why is the square a place of memory?

It was laid out on a former medieval cemetery, called the cemetery of the condemned, overwhelmed during a great plague epidemic.

What is at the centre of the square?

An octagonal fountain, once surmounted by a statue, which brings a peaceful note to this place steeped in history.