What Did Gaudí Actually Do Inside Palma Cathedral?
Gaudí relocated the Gothic choir out of the center of the nave into the chancel, restored large windows that had been walled over, and designed nine new stained-glass windows, according to the Antoni Gaudí Foundation's own account of his 1904 to 1915 restoration. He also designed an elaborate canopy meant to hang over the high altar, but it was never built after a dispute with the contractor ended the project abruptly. General admission is €10, covering the cathedral and Museum of Sacred Art; hours run 10 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. April through October and shorter in winter.
Why the same architect behind Barcelona's UNESCO sites worked here too
Antoni Gaudí, the architect behind the seven buildings that make up Barcelona's joint UNESCO World Heritage listing, was formally commissioned by La Seu's Cathedral Chapter in 1902 to lead a liturgical restoration, with the project drawn up in 1903 and carried out roughly between 1904 and 1915. That's a genuine, documented professional commission, not an informal association or a marketing claim built around his more famous Barcelona reputation.
Why moving the choir was the project's most significant change
Gaudí's most substantial intervention was relocating the Gothic choir out of the center of the nave and into the chancel, freeing up the central space for the congregation in line with more modern liturgical practice at the time. That single change altered how the entire interior functions during services, not a cosmetic adjustment but a genuine reworking of how the cathedral's central space gets used.
Why restoring the windows mattered as much as moving the choir
Beyond the choir relocation, Gaudí restored large windows that had been walled over, bringing genuine natural light back into an interior that had lost it, and designed nine new stained-glass windows as part of the same restoration. Light and how it moves through the nave is a defining feature of experiencing La Seu today, and that's a direct result of this specific restoration work, not simply how the cathedral was always designed to look.
Why the baldachin was never finished
Gaudí also designed an elaborate heptagonal baldachin, a canopy structure meant to hang over the high altar, but the finished metal version was never built after Gaudí had a dispute with the contractor and the project ended abruptly. What's inside La Seu today is a genuine, if incomplete, Gaudí intervention, worth knowing specifically so a visitor isn't looking for a finished baldachin that was designed but never actually installed.
What This Means for Visiting La Seu Cathedral
The practical takeaway is that La Seu deserves genuine attention specifically for its documented Gaudí connection, not just as one of Europe's tallest Gothic naves overlooking the bay, a description that alone undersells the specific, verifiable restoration work inside. General admission covers both the cathedral and the Museum of Sacred Art together, and checking the seasonal hours before visiting matters here since the winter and summer schedules differ meaningfully.