Església de Sant Sever de Barcelona
Built: 1698-1705
Function: Former parish church; currently part of the Cathedral museum
Address: Sant Sever, 9-11

The Church of Saint Severus of Barcelona is located close to the Episcopal Palace and the Cathedral cloister. It houses the shrine of St. Severus, who was Bishop of Barcelona from 290 to 304 A.D. St. Severus was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

The present structure was built between 1698 and 1705 in a high baroque style. It has a single nave, a polygonal apse, and lateral side chapels. Unlike most of the churches in Barcelona, it was not burned by the Leftists during the Spanish Civil War. As a result, its Baroque interior was the only one in the city’s few Baroque-era churches to remain completely intact.

This is the entrance facade, with St. Severus appearing in the niche above the front door:

Here we see the high altar, with the shrine of St. Severus:

And here we see two of the side chapels:

In 2007 Sant Sever was designated as a museum space for the Cathedral’s collections of Baroque and contemporary art. I am not at present aware of whether Mass or religious ceremonies still take place there. Sant Sever is not listed among the parishes of the Archdiocese, but there is a joint parish of St. Severus and St. Francis Xavier which makes me think that the former parish was joined to the latter.