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The emblematic Plaza de la Mercè in Barcelona is relatively recently built. It was in 1981 when the island of houses that occupied this place was overthrown to build an open space large enough to respect the symbolism of what the Virgen de la Mercè, patron saint of the city, represents.
In this way, it is possible to obtain a new perspective that is spacious enough to contemplate and admire the façade of the Basilica de la Mare de Déu de la Mercè i Sant Miquel Arcàngel, known simply as the Basílica de la Mercè.
Baroque in style, it was built between 1765 and 1775, being the work of the architect José Mas. Initially it was an architectural complex built of a church and a convent belonging to the Mercedarian Order. In 1918 it was granted, by Pope Benedict XV, the title of minor basilica.
In front of the basilica we find a statue with a majestic bearing that represents a pagan god, as can be seen in this photographic report in Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia. It is about Neptune, from Roman mythology, who governs all waters and seas.
Said itinerant statue was commissioned to Adrià Ferran by the Board of Works of the Port of Barcelona. It was erected in honor of King Ferdinand VII. It was first located in Barceloneta. A few years later, Celdoni Guixà made the sphinxes located at his feet with clear Masonic connotations.
In 1919, due to a remodeling of the port, the statue was transferred to Montjuïc and from there to a municipal warehouse. In 1983 the socialist group of the Barcelona City Council decided to dust it off to erect it neither more nor less than in the square where the Basilica de la Mercè is located. It was restored and placed in the center of a pond. The complex was inaugurated on February 6, 1983, not without a more than discreet controversy on the part of the CiU bench.
Answering the question about what symbolism Plaça de la Mercè hides, the answer is on the right side of the base of the statue of Neptune, where there is a symbol with obvious Freemasonry connotations: the compass, the knot and the stars.
Clear references to speculative Freemasonry, which lead us to ask ourselves: What is a pagan god doing in front of a basilica of Christian rite and with Freemasonry symbolism? What mysterious purpose is hidden in the decision to place the statue with this mysterious background?
