The Basilica de la Mercè has some rooms in the form of a gallery to the church that are for exclusive military use. They are accessed via a bridge that connects the Capitanía palace with the temple that crosses Carrer de la Mercè. It is one of the vestiges of when both buildings formed part, until the mid-19th century, of the convent of the Mercedarians.
In fact, there are two bridges, but only the one closest to Plaça de Mercè is practicable. The other is boarded up. From inside the Capitanía, the bridge is a corridor through which you can access the rooms that are part of the tribune, on the first floor of the basilica.
In the past, this was the path that the monks took to access the choir of the church through a door that can still be seen today but which was bricked up and covered with a canvas representing San Fernando.
The two bridges are actually a reconstruction of the originals, demolished during the liberal triennium (1820-1823), when the authorities decided to close the convent, although they kept the church open, but as a parish. The bridges were restored with the restoration of absolutism. They are the ones who cross Carrer de la Mercè today.
The current Capitanía palace definitively ceased to be a convent of the Mercedarians as a result of the confiscation of 1835. The church was maintained, which also assumed the functions of parish that until then had been exercised by the temple of Sant Miquel, which was erected until its demolition in the square of the same name next to the Barcelona City Hall. In fact, elements of this church were transferred to La Mercè, such as the side door on Carrer Ample.
The old convent became a Captaincy in 1846, after having housed a tax office, a military barracks and casino, among other uses.
