The biggest publishing phenomenon in historical fiction in Spain.

A cathedral built by the people and for the people in medieval Barcelona serves as the backdrop for a gripping story of intrigue, violence, and passion.

14th century. The city of Barcelona is at the height of its prosperity; it has expanded toward La Ribera, the humble fishermen’s district, whose inhabitants decide to build—with some contributing money and others their labor—the greatest Marian temple ever known: Santa Maria del Mar.

This construction runs parallel to the tumultuous story of Arnau, a serf who flees the abuses of his feudal lord and seeks refuge in Barcelona, where he becomes a citizen and, with that, a free man.

Young Arnau works as a stableman, stevedore, soldier, and money changer. An exhausting life, always under the protection of the cathedral, which would carry him from the misery of a fugitive to nobility and wealth. But with this privileged position also comes the envy of his peers, who plot a sordid conspiracy that puts his life in the hands of the Inquisition…

The Cathedral of the Sea weaves a plot of loyalty and revenge, betrayal and love, war and plague, in a world marked by religious intolerance, material ambition, and social segregation. All of this makes the novel not only absorbing but also the most fascinating and ambitious recreation of the lights and shadows of the feudal era.