One of the most poetic corners of the city.
After the Episcopal Palace to the right, down Montjuïc del Bisbe street.
After the bombings suffered in the Spanish Civil War, the Gothic Quarter gained spaces from the buildings demolished by the bombs, taking advantage of the lots to create a new environment. One of these was the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri, the architect Adolf Florensa created a new square.
The House of the Barcelona Shoemakers Guild is located in the square, with a Renaissance façade and built in 1585. There is also the House of the Caldereros Guild (*Calderers: Artisans who made cauldrons and pots.)
The square is dominated by an octagonal Gothic fountain, the work of the architect Joaquim Ros de Ramis.
The church of Sant Felip Neri:
It is one of the few in Baroque style in Barcelona.
It was built in 1721, on one floor and with side chapels.
The altars of San Felip Neri and San Raiumundo de Peñafort, of baroque and neoclassical styles, stand out.
We can find two paintings by the painter Joan Llimona (1860-1926), brother of the sculptor Josep Llimona.
Did you know?
…The old medieval cemetery was located in this square and was destroyed after one of the bombings during the civil war.
…On January 30, 1938, the bombing that punished the Gothic quarter the most took place, several buildings were affected by the fall of the bombs in the streets; Petrixol, Avinyo, de la Palla or Plaza de Sant Felip Neri, where one of those unfortunate injustices that wars cause occurred. In the Oratory of the Church of Sant Felip Neri there were twenty children who had taken refuge from the war who, along with other neighbors, took shelter in the basement of the sacristy, when a shell hit the building, killing all those who had taken refuge.
…If you stop in front of the main door of the church, you will observe the shrapnel marks of the bombs on its walls, they have never been restored to leave a testimony of what happened in this Square.
…For movie buffs; You remember Jean – Batiste Grenouille in the movie “El Perfume”, he is walking the streets around the cathedral, following the fragrances of a plum seller and follows her to the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri, where he ends up murdering her… uffff
…The thefts of the statues; in 1962 the fountain was crowned with a statuette of the saint, which was stolen after a year. Later it was replaced by a sculpture of a student with a book under his arm, the work of the sculptor Josep Miret, which was also stolen.
Generally we will find it full of children playing, they belong to the Sant Felip Neri school, located in the same square and founded in 1959 by Father Serafí Alemany Esteve.
