The public buildings of Barcelona are remark able, both on account of their external beauty, and the curiosities which they contain. The cathedral church, about 160 feet long, and 62 broad, has a magnificent appearance. Twelve large Gothic pil lars separate the nave and aisles, and are formed by clusters of columns of various sizes. A large octa gon dome of Gothic architecture, with eight gal. leries, stands in the middle of the space between the choir and the great door. The sanctuary, which stands over the subterranean chapel, containing the relics of St Eulalia, is formed by ten pillars, form ing a semicircle, which contains the great altar, in the Gothic style, and of exquisite workmanship. The convent of La Merci has a large church, with a Doric portal, and a fine front composed of two sto ries of Corinthian and Ionic architecture. The cloister, which is sixty feet square, is most superbly executed. The portico, of sixteen arcades, which surrounds it, is supported by twenty Doric columns of marble. Above the portico is a spacious gallery, which -has, on the Outside, thirty-two arcades, on Ionic columns of marble, ornamented with a ballus trade of grey marble. The convent of St Francisco has a large and handsome Gothic church, and a clois ter, adorned with paintings. The rnnvent of the Dominicans, and the chapel of St Raymond, are scarcely deserving of notice. The chapel of our Lady of the Rosary, has two cloisters, one of which has its walls covered with paintings, put up by the Inquisition, in 1745, 'to preserve the memory of the numerous victims of that bloody tribunal. Bodies writhing in the midst of flames ; devils running off with bodies ; and inscriptions containing the de signation and punishment of the culprits, attract the notice of strangers. Above one of the doors of the cloister is a large inscription, stating, that the monu ments of the punishment of those who were condemn ed were formerly deposited there ; but that the ra vages of time and of war had destroyed these pre cious relics, and induced the inquisition to perpetuate their remembrance upon canvass. The parish church of St Mary of the Sea, built in the fifteenth century, is the finest in Barcelona. The principal altar is a rich assemblage of white, black, and mixed marble.
Hotel•de-ville contains a variety of excellent pie ces of sculpture. The hotel of the Deputation, where the States of Catalonia assembled, is reckoned one of the handsomest edifices in the city, and con tains the archives and charters of the crown of Ar ragon. The palace of the Counts of Barcelona and the Kings of Arragon, distinguished by the noble simplicity of its architecture, serves for the prisons of the inquisition, and the academy of medicine. The go vernor's palace was built, in 1444, as a market for cloths. It was converted into an arsenal in 1511 ; and ' in 1652, Philip 1V. made it the residence of the Vice roys of Cataloi.;a. The exchange is a rectangular building, 250 feet long and 77 wide, and has a no ble and majestic appearance. The customhouse, the theatre, and the school for surgery, are the only other buildings deserving of notice. Besides these public buildings, there are *six hospitals, a charity house, and an asylum. The poor employed in the asylum amounts to 1400, of which 300 are ma niacs. The university of Barcelona was suppressed at the beginning of the tenth century, by Philip V. It is now turned into barracks. Besides a private collection of natural curiosities, and two public li braries, there are four academies, viz. of natural
philosophy, history, practical medicine, and juris prudence.
The remains of those superb buildings, with which the Romans decorated Barcelona, have almost whol ly perished. •The only antiquities which are now to be seen, are, 1. The remains of a Mosaic pavement composed of white and blue stones, representing fishes and tritons. 2. A lofty and massy arch of an aque duct, •h.ch seems to have conveyed water from the mountain of Colserola. 3. A basin of white marble in the house of the archdeacon near the cathedral, having its front covered with reliefs. 4. Six large fluted columns, with capitals of the Corinthian or der. These columns, which are 29 feet 10 lines high, form part of the walls-of a house. 5. Several ancient pieces of sculptures in the court walls of a house belonging to the Pinos, in the square of Cu curulla. Among these, there is a little statue of Bacchus, without the head, of beautiful workman ship.
The reoti.rula and ceremonies of the church are particularly brilliant at Barcelona. Those which take place during the holy week are the most remark able, and some idea of their grandeur may be formed from the immense quantity of wax which is then con sumed. In the three processions there are burned nearly 30,000 flambeauxs of white wax, each of which weighs about five or six pounds. Though the greater part of this wax comes from Africa, it is still a great branch of trade and industry.
The harbour of Barcelona is formed by a kind of bay, situated between the citadel of Montjouy and the city. At the beginning of the sixteenth century it was merely an open coast, with considerable depth of water. At present it is only a great basin, form ed by piers, and kept up by solid quays. Notwith standing the exertions which are made to *keep it clear, the basin is gradually filling up with sand. Ships of any considerable size cannot at present be admitted, and frigates cannot come within half a league of it. The entrance to the harbour is diffi cult, and occasionally dangerous, in consequence of a high bar formed at the place where the waters of the Bezos and the Llobregat mingle in the sea. The harbour of Barcelona, notwithstanding these disad vantages, is secure and well-sheltered, and is always crowded with the ships of different nations. A few years ago, the total number of vessels, in one year, was 500 Spanish, 150 English, 60 Danes, 45 Dutch, 2 French, and more than 300 of other nations, a mounting to at least 1060 vessels.
The situation of Barcelona has rendered it one of the most flourishing and commercial towns in Spain. About a thousand Spanish ships, of which nearly 120 belong to Barcelona, annually clear out of the harbour, and carry to America, and to the different maritime kingdoms of Europe, the productions and the manufactures of Catalonia. The articles of the export trade arc silver, gold, and plain stuffs, silk stockings, middling cloths, printed calicoes, striped and flowered cottons, cottons of all kinds, plain and stained papers, fire-arms, laces, shoes, wines, and brandies. The ar ticles which it imports are, silks from Lyons and Nismes, silk stockings from Nismes and Ganges, cloths from Elbeuf and Sedan, jewellery from Paris, iron-ware from Forez, millinery from France ; and cotton goods and dried cod from England. The ex port and import trade is said to amount annually to 1,750,000 sterling.