Description
An authentic jewel of civil Gothic architecture. It is probable the most beautiful episcopal residence in Catalonia. With its entrance on Carrer de la Croera, the western façade directly overlooks the river, as it opens up on to the Rambla de Felip Pedrell. This riverfront has really preserved the vestiges of its past well. The house is located opposite the Cathedral’s façade. The door opens on to entryway of pointed arches and hallways on the side, characterized by simple and severe workmanship.
The irregularly shaped courtyard, a quintessential example of the Catalan Gothic style, structures the building. There is a sweeping staircase up to the second floor, where two galleries have been preserved formed by two pointed arches on stylized four-lobed columns with beautiful capitals decorated with plant carvings.
Constructed in the early 14th Century by the Bishop Berenguer de Prats, the square chapel is crowned by the roof of the apse with a half-star vault that sits in small corner vaults and squinches. The upper windows are false, and the original multi-coloured painting can still be seen. The interior façade of the chapel holds an impressive sculpture of extraordinary beauty: the Mother of Christ with Child in the centre of the tympanum flanked by small angels and sculptures on the uprights representing saints and bishops.
