The Aisles of the Dockyards

The aisles of the Dockyards bear silent witness to an industry of great importance in Barcelona during the Middle Ages and in the modern era: shipbuilding. These aisles, in some instances more than 100m long and containing over 150 columns, saw hundreds of galleys set forth with the mission of leaving the Catalan imprint throughout the Mediterranean.
Despite going through innumerable enlargements, alterations and reconstruction, the main building has kept the same design structure over the course of its more than 700 years of history, since this proved to be the most practical for the Dockyard’s purpose. For this reason, in spite of having the same Gothic style as the fourteenth century Dockyard, the building containing the aisles is not mediaeval, as the major reconstruction which has come down to the present day, was carried out in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
As a result of restoring the aisles, an important discovery was made which demonstrated the use that had been made of the space for centuries:  a building slip which was used as a berth for galley-construction. The holes where the blocks which supported the ship’s hull were fixed while it was being built were still visible.
 
Technical Details:
Floor Area of the aisles: 14,000m2
Height of the arches: 12m, except the main Slipway, which measures 15.6m.
Number of columns: 152.
Building material: Montjuïc limestone for the columns. Pine beams for the roof. 

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