Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy

This guide to the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy in Barcelona begins in 1936, when soldiers stripped the bronze statue of La Mercè from the dome during the Spanish Civil War and the basilica itself was gutted by fire. It circles back to 1687, when locusts were destroying Barcelona's crops and the city council vowed to make the Virgin of Mercy patron of the city if the swarms vanished, a vow Rome did not confirm for nearly two centuries. Best heard from the square in front, looking up at the dome the story circles back to.