Santuari de la Mare de Déu de la Misericòrdia, Gothic Revival church in Canet de Mar, Spain.
The Santuari de la Mare de Déu de la Misericòrdia is a church built in Gothic Revival style in the coastal town of Canet de Mar north of Barcelona. It features the characteristic pointed arches and vertical emphasis typical of this architectural movement, creating a sense of height and refinement.
Devotion at this site is documented from 1461, and by 1703 the Misericòrdia had become the town's patron. The 19th-century chapel, only 6.80 m wide and 12.40 m long, proved too small, so in 1852 Francesc Daniel Molina i Casamajó was commissioned to design a new church; the first stone was laid in 1853 and it was blessed in 1857. Molina defended the Gothic Revival against the prevailing Neoclassicism before the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. A fire in 1936 destroyed the wooden ornament, paintings, roof and the Baroque image, restored after the war by Josep Maria Danès i Torras and Pere Domenech i Roura.
The Virgin of Mercy has been Canet de Mar's patron since 1703, and her image was crowned again in 1942 after the Civil War fire. The traditional Goigs hymn calls her "Verge puig títol goseu / i nom d'amor i concòrdia." The restored silver-gilt Romanesque crown, hidden in a box returned from France, was found at the Bank of Spain in 1941.
The church is located in Canet de Mar, a coastal town north of Barcelona, and is straightforward to access. Visitors should respect the nature of a religious site and check local information about visiting hours before planning a trip.
The building is one of Molina i Casamajó's earliest major works and already shows the quality that would shape his later reputation. Its location in a smaller coastal town makes it an often-overlooked example of how his style developed from the start.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,414 contributors worldwide.