The Peninsula war and Intruding Power in Barcelona: Consequences for the Urban Framework and its Heritage

Th e presence acquired by the temples in Barcelona from the time of the Counter-Reformation played an important role in the confi guration and extent of public religious feeling in the city, to the point that during the Napoleonic Wars, their social as well as liturgical aspects, along with their economic potential, would become key elements in occupation policy. Th rough a series of actions used as instruments of political power, the French authorities undermined the established social order, brushed aside Church resources, and used their own material and non-material symbols to consolidate their domination, profoundly impacting on the urban framework and on the future of their art heritage.