If I Were Going...: Sagrada Família

Light through the stained glass

The most iconic building in Barcelona is Antoni Gaudi's immense, but still unfinished, Basilica of the Sagrada Família (the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família), which has been under construction since 1882 and is financed by private donations.

Perpetual construction

I visited with Craig and Cheri. If you go, do what we did -- buy tickets in advance. Entries are timed and the wait was over two hours for the people who were in line when we got there.

Cheri, Craig and I went; Scott didn't

Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 (he was hit by a tram on a Barcelona street) in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Currently, completion is planned for approximately 2026.

His dream is being slowly realized

Josep Maria Bocabella, a bookseller who founded the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (Spiritual Association of Devotees of St. Joseph), was inspired to build the Sagrada Família after a visit to the Vatican in 1872.

St. Joseph plays prominently in the church

Bocabella raised funds and hired architect Francisco de Paula del Villar, who designed and began construction on the apse (a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof, typically at the eastern end, and usually containing the altar) in 1882. His plan was for a Gothic revival church of a standard form, but when he resigned a year later and Gaudí took over, the plan changed radically.

A crazy mix of styles

After Gaudí's death, work continued until it was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, when parts of the unfinished basilica and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed by Catalan anarchists.

The design is based on reconstructed versions of Gaudí's plan with modern adaptations

Computer-aided design has accelerated construction, which had been expected to last for several hundred years, based on building techniques available in the early 20th century. Current technology allows stone to be shaped off-site by a milling machine, whereas in the 20th century, the stone was carved by hand.

Intricate designs

In mid-2010, the nave was covered and an organ installed, allowing the still unfinished building to be used for religious services. Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church the same year.

Something different everywhere you look

While never intended to be a cathedral (seat of a bishop), the Sagrada Família was planned to be cathedral-sized.

Like many European Gothic cathedrals, it is short compared to its width and has a great complexity of parts. Where it is common for cathedrals in Spain to be surrounded by numerous chapels and ecclesiastical buildings, the plan of this church has an unusual feature: a covered cloister that forms a rectangle enclosing the church and passing through each of its three portals.

Outside view

Gaudí's design calls for 18 spires, representing in ascending height the Twelve Apostles, the Virgin Mary, the four Evangelists and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. Eight spires have been built.

Distant view

The church will have three grand façades: the Nativity Façade to the east ...

Looks like a sand castle

... the Passion Façade to the west ...

Cubist-looking

... and the Glory Façade to the south ...

Masked by lots of scaffolding

The Nativity Façade was built before work was interrupted in 1936 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion Façade was begun in 1954 and the towers, built over the elliptical plan, were finished in 1976. The Glory Façade will be the largest and most monumental.

Glory Façade construction began in 2002

Characteristic of Gaudí's naturalistic style, the Nativity Façade is decorated with images from nature.

Lots and lots of nature!

A turtle or tortoise (one to represent land and the other sea) is found at the base of each portico and chameleons (symbolic of change) are on either side.

One panel even has a turkey!

The façade faces the rising sun, a symbol for the birth of Christ, and is divided into three porticos, each representing a theological virtue (Hope, Faith and Charity).

Nativity scenes

There's a dove above the door ...

It looks both ancient and modern

The ornate door, looks like it is covered with ivy that crawls up to the top ...

This looks realistic

Four towers complete the façade, each dedicated to a Saint (Matthias the Apostle, Saint Barnabas, Jude the Apostle and Simon the Zealot) ...

Don't ask which is which

Gaudí chose this façade to embody the structure and decoration of the whole church because he knew that he would not live to finish the church and he wanted to set an artistic and architectural example for others to follow.

Three Wise Men

In contrast to the highly decorated Nativity Façade, the Passion Façade is austere with bare stone carved with harsh straight lines that resemble bones.

Dramatic departure

Dedicating the façade to the Passion of Christ (the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion), Gaudí intended it to portray the sins of man and to strike fear in onlookers. He wanted to "break" arcs and "cut" columns, and to use the effect of chiaroscuro (dark angular shadows contrasted by harsh rigid light) to further show the severity and brutality of Christ's sacrifice.

This is designed to be disturbing

Facing the setting sun, indicative and symbolic of the death of Christ, the façade is supported by six large inclined columns, designed to resemble sequoia trunks. Above there is a pyramidal pediment, made up of eighteen bone-shaped columns that culminate in a large cross with a crown of thorns. Each of the four towers is dedicated to an apostle (James, Thomas, Philip or Bartholomew) and, like the Nativity Façade, there are three porticos, each representing the theological virtues, but in a much different light.

Two views

The door on the Passion Façade is very abstract, quite a contrast to the Nativity door, which is quite literal ...

Left: Passion; Right: Nativity

The largest and most striking of the façades will be the Glory Façade, which will be the principal façade and offer access to the central nave. Dedicated to the Celestial Glory of Jesus, it represents the road to God: Death, Final Judgment and Glory, while Hell is left for those who deviate from God's will. The Glory Portico will be reached via a large staircase with decoration representing Hell and vice. It will have seven large columns dedicated to spiritual gifts, at the base of which will be representations of the Seven Deadly Sins, and at the top, The Seven Heavenly Virtues. Completion of the Glory Façade will require demolition of the complete block of buildings.

Sagrada familia dominates the skyline

The church is laid out as a Latin cross with five aisles. The central nave vaults reach 150 feet and the side nave vaults reach 10 feet.

Windows tower above a confessional

The transept (in a cross-shaped church, either of the two parts forming the arms of the cross shape) has three aisles with columns on a 25 foot grid. The columns of the apse, resting on del Villar's foundation, do not adhere to the grid, requiring a section of columns of the ambulatory to transition to the grid creating a horseshoe pattern.

Panoramic of the church

The central vault reaches 200 feet and the apse is capped by a vault reaching 250 feet. Gaudí intended that a visitor standing at the main entrance see the graduated increase in vault loft of the nave, crossing and apse.

The columns of the interior are a unique Gaudí design. Besides branching to support their load, their ever-changing surfaces are the result of the intersection of various geometric forms. For example, one has a square base that evolves into an octagon as the column rises, then a sixteen-sided form and, eventually, a circle.

Ceiling detail

None of the interior surfaces are flat; the ornamentation consists of abstract shapes that combine smooth curves and jagged points.

Curves and angles

The organ installed in 2010 has 26 stops (1,492 pipes) on two manuals and a pedalboard. To overcome the acoustical challenges posed by the church's size, several additional organs will be installed throughout the building. These instruments will be playable separately from their own individual consoles and simultaneously from a single mobile console, yielding an 8000-pipe organ when completed.

The interior is filled with beautiful stained glass windows ...

The windows bring light into dark halls

The windows look very traditional from a distance, but they are rather abstract upon close inspection ...

They leave beautiful shadows on the wall

The building is full of interesting details, including designs of the ceiling ...

Strange designs

... embedded mosaics ...

This might say something

... statues ...

Left: St. Joseph; Right: abstract statue by Gaudi

... designs on the floor ...

Palm Sunday motif

Under the nave is a private chapel and crypt ...

Gaudi is buried here

There is also a workshop ...

Here you can see lots of prototypes

... and museum ...

The museum has lots of models

On the grounds is also the Sagrada Família Schools, which were constructed in 1909 for the children of the workers building the church. Other children of the neighborhood attended, especially from the underprivileged classes.

The building contains three classrooms, a hall and a chapel. It has a brick facade, in three overlapping layers, following the Catalan technical tradition.