Collegiate Basilica of Manresa

The Collegiate Basilica of Santa Maria, also known as La Seu, is a Romanesque-Gothic church in Manresa, Catalonia, northern Spain.HistoryThe church of Santa Maria is documented from the year 890. In 999 the edifice was devastated by troops of Al-Mansur, as well as the whole city. In 1000 count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona, together with his mother Ermesinde and Oliva, bishop of Vic, decided to refurbish the church.Today only scanty remains are preserved of this Romanesque structure, and of its pre-Romanesque forerunner, including columns in the gallery (11th century), featuring columns with capitals having vegetable and geometrical motifs, and a 12th-century portal. During the 14th century, Manresa underwent a large expansion, and a new Gothic structure was thus added above the pre-existing church. Construction started in 1322, under design by architect Berenguer de Montagut, who had been previously working at Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona. The first stone was placed in 1328 but works dragged on into the 15th century and later.The crypt was built in 1578, followed by the Chapel of the Holiest in 1657. The bell tower, with a quadrangular shape, dates to 1592, while the Baroque cloister was built in the early 18th century. The main façade and the baptisteries are from 1915–1934, designed by Alexandre Soler i March, after an idea by Antoni Gaudí.