Religious Affairs Office

There are around 500 centres of worship in Barcelona, a figure that is clearly indicative of the religious and cultural diversity that characterises a city where around a thousand religious communities and organisations live side by side. Despite the strong influence that this diversity has on our urban landscape, there are still many local people who are unaware of their physical proximity to some of these communities.

For this reason the Office for Religious Affairs (OAR) is organising the activity “Discover the religious diversity of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods in 2024”. The activity will feature two routes that will take place in the morning and afternoon of 6 July, focusing on Orthodox Christianity and its presence in the Barcelona landscape. They commemorate and celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the official establishment of the Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Serbia in Catalonia. In the beginning, the community held its services in a first floor flat in the Santa Eulàlia de Vilapicina neighbourhood, and was registered as a religious association with the ministry of the interior for the first time in 1973. It was recognised as a Spanish Orthodox Church some time later, and in 1988 became part of the Holy Synod of Serbia. Eventually, the church settled in the parish of Protecció de Mare de Déu, where it still is today.

The Christian Orthodox Church was born in 1054, as a result of the Great Schism due to religious and political disagreements between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope of Rome. Today, there are some 300 million orthodox Christians, meaning that this is the second largest branch of Christianity. Organisationally, it comprises autonomous churches and independent branches, each under the authority of its respective patriarch. In terms of doctrine, Orthodox Christianity attaches great importance to the Old Testament, with the sacraments of the Eucharist, penance, the priesthood and marriage being of particular significance. Moreover, a particular feature of Orthodoxy is devotion to religious icons, representations of the divinity and of saints.

The activity on 6 July will allow those taking part to get to know these distinctive features at first hand, visiting the centres of worship of some of the branches of Orthodox Christianity to be found in the city. The morning will be devoted to a tour of two churches in the Eixample district. First, the Greek Orthodox Church of Sant Nectari d’Egina (Patriarchate of Constantinople), and then the Protecció de la Mare de Déu Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Serbia). In the afternoon there will be a visit to two other churches in the Sarrià – Sant Gervasi and Les Corts districts, the parish of Maria Reina, where there will be a visit to the patriarchates of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Apostolic Church of Armenia, and the parish of Santa Nino (Patriarchate of Georgia).

DISCOVER THE RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY OF BARCELONA’S NEIGHBOURHOODS 2024

• Date: Saturday 6 July
• Route 1: churches in the Eixample district
  • • Meeting point: 9 am at the church of Sant Nectari d’Egina (Aragó, 299)
    • Time: from 9.30 to 11.30 am
• Route 2: churches in Sarrià – Sant Gervasi and Les Corts
  • • Meeting point: 5 pm, at the church of Santa Nino (Passeig Santa Eulàlia, 23)
    • Time: from 5.30 to 8 pm
• Booking: the activity is free, but capacity is limited. Prior booking is required, by emailing activitatsoar@bcn.cat.

PLEASE NOTE: We advise everyone taking part to bring water, and wear comfortable shoes.