Church and Convent of Las Salesas

Anyone strolling along Barcelona's Passeig de Sant Joan, on the stretch between Carrer de València and Carrer d'Aragó, will come across one of those ensembles that deserve a pause along the way: the church and former convent of Las Salesas. It was designed by Joan Martorell i Montells, and this was no minor commission in his career, as the project is regarded as his most important work. That alone makes it worth stopping to take it in at leisure.

The complex was built to house the Salesian nuns, members of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. Work began with the convent, construction of which got under way in 1877, and a little later it was the turn of the church, which went up in just three years, between 1882 and 1885. This speed meant that the church and the convent building soon formed a coherent unit, conceived from the outset as a single whole.

Over time, the two spaces have gone their separate ways without losing their connection. The church is still open for worship and is today the parish church of Saint Francis de Sales, so visitors can go inside and appreciate Martorell's work from within. The former convent, by contrast, took on a new role in 1943, when it became a Marist Brothers school, an educational use that transformed the life of a building originally designed for an enclosed religious community.

A visit to Las Salesas is therefore a good opportunity to discover an architect whose name may be less familiar than those of some of his Barcelona contemporaries, but who left his finest legacy here. It is best to come without hurrying, walk around the exterior along the passeig and, if the parish opening hours allow, step inside the church to round off the experience.