Spanish · b. 1959
Spanish lawyer and novelist whose debut The Cathedral of the Sea became one of the best-selling Spanish novels of the 21st century, set in 14th-century Barcelona.
Ildefonso Falcones was born in Barcelona in 1959 and works as a lawyer. La Catedral del Mar (The Cathedral of the Sea), published in Spain in 2006, sold over a million copies in its first year and became one of the most commercially successful Spanish novels of the 21st century. It was translated into more than forty languages.
The novel is set in 14th-century Barcelona’s Ribera neighbourhood, during the construction of the Gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar — a church famously built by the common people of the neighbourhood rather than by noble or ecclesiastical commission. The protagonist, Arnau Estanyol, arrives in the city as a serf fleeing bondage and builds his life through service to the church and the city’s seafaring trade.
Falcones’s Barcelona is meticulously researched: the medieval street plan of the Ribera (now Barcelona’s El Born neighbourhood), the church whose construction drives the plot, and the social hierarchies of medieval Catalan society are all rendered with the detail of someone who has spent years in the historical record. The neighbourhood around Santa Maria del Mar is one of Barcelona’s most visited; the novel has become essential reading for visitors to the Ribera.
by Ildefonso Falcones
In 14th-century Barcelona's Ribera neighbourhood, a serf's son rises from bondage to become a respected stoneworker and bastaix — a carrier of stones for the construction of the great Gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)
by Ildefonso Falcones
In 16th-century Andalusia, a Moorish boy named Hernando is born to a Christian father who rapes his Muslim mother. Caught between two worlds and two faiths, he tries to preserve the legacy of the Moors as Spain expels them.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)
by Ildefonso Falcones
In 18th-century Barcelona, an illegitimate child named Miquel Puig becomes a master painter of religious art — navigating the guilds, the Church, and his own turbulent loves in a city of contradictions.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)guide
All Ildefonso Falcones novels in order — from The Cathedral of the Sea to The Painter of Souls. Complete guide to the Spanish historical novelist's work, with reading order and best starting points.
guide
New to Ildefonso Falcones? The Cathedral of the Sea is the obvious starting point — here's what to expect and how to read his complete works.
Disclosure: Amazon links on this page are affiliate links. If you purchase through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.