At the end of Carrer Montcada stands the church of Santa Maria del Mar, probably the best example of Catalan Gothic architecture anywhere. The church was built for the sailors who lived down near the port, outside the city walls. And when I say for, I really mean by, since all the sailors were forced to work on the church for free during the fifty year construction period. The exterior is severe and fortress-like, which makes the Gothic airiness of the interior all the more surprising. The church used to be richly decorated, but when a group of anarchists took over the city in 1936, they burned the church. The interior burned for ten days, destroying all the interior decoration, but keeping the soaring pillars and arches intact, and in some ways the church is all the more impressive in its simple spaciousness.