The Sagrada Familia

Antoni Goudi is perhaps Spain's most celebrated architect. Born in 1852, he worked on the Sagrada for 43 years before his death in 1926 when he was hit by a tram. He completed many architectural feats before his death. In accordance with his own wish, he was entombed in the crypts of the Sangrada. More than 1000 Catalan people escorted his casket to the church. 

The church was never completed while he lived. In fact it never even came close and in 1936 was damaged during the Spanish Civil War. 

Work has continued on the Sagrada with contributions from dozens of known artists and architects all working towards realizing Goudi's vision. He completed several plaster models and artistic renderings of the Sagrada before his death. Even before his live was cut he knew he wouldn't be around to complete the work so he left lots of material for his followers to go by. The hope of project leaders is that they can complete all the towers and facades by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Goudi's death.

In the past 3 weeks, I've been bombarded with culture in particular religious art and history having seen a couple of Cathedrals (Siena and Florence), art(Vatican Museum and Uffici gallery) and St. Peters Basilica(which many consider the greatest church in the Christian world and I might agree).

There are no photo's here that do this place justice. I'd have needed a drone to get the proper angles. Bear with me if you will. I'm not here to repeat what I heard on on the audio tour. You may just have to make this trip yourself one day. 

First look from the street.

 During my time here today I never really though much about the east facing  Nativity facade. Move up closer and you can see many statues and sculptures that tell the story of the birth of Christ. 

A poor shot of what the church hopes to be one day

 A closer look shows the ornate nature and detail of Goudi's vision. Each of these statues tells part of the story.

Staring up at the towers. 8 are complete. 10 more to go

The 3 wise men bearing gifts

 Once inside we can see the church with stain windows all around, and in the clerestories above where a chorus would sit.

The vaulted ceilings go 75 meters high supported by stone columns that branch out like trees as they reach the top. (I was reminded of Lothlorien from the 1st lord of the rings movie but the 2 have nothing to do with each other. )

 The west facing stained glass use the warmer colours to represent summer.

 To the east he uses the cooler colours.

 The 4 main support columns made of the red-ish basalt have glyphs on them to represent some of Christianities bigger names like Luc and Mark (There are 4 all together)

 A stair case that leads up to the higher level.

Across from where I was sitting.

The West facing door.

 The exit side of the tour is called the Passion Facade. The Door leading there is crafted in bronze and has passages from the bible carved into it. Moving to the outside, the Passion facade tells the story of the Crucifixion. There the caricatures of Pontios and Judas the Roman soldiers that played dice for Christs belongings after he was dead. On this side, the statues lose their warmth, becoming square or more abstract.

Yes this is the second time I'm showing this picture. I just wanted to talk about it. Michelangelo and Leonardo used images of mountains in the background of many of their paintings to represent God. (Water was used to represent people) I look at this facade and am reminded of a range of mountains. The entrance looks like caves where people have carved ornate representations of religious icons. Inside the pillars stand like trees around you. Everywhere you look there is light as though it were light poking through a forest. While there are statues on the inside of the church, there perhaps 20 times as many carvings and statues on the outside.. I make this point as St. Peters and all the Renaissance era cathedrals have their insides lined with religious art so that the parishioners could ponder Gods sacrifice.  I also found the representations on the outside to be more factual of the story without personal spins on Christianity.

So in a way, Goudi's vision was to tell the story of Christ on the outside of the building, allowing the inside to be left as a tribute to nature which might allow a parishioner to focus on God's creations instead. The Sagrada might be a representation of the message from God, without any biases or misinterpretations from mere men. (Goudi was a true lover of nature).


I've never studied religion, nor been all that religious. But for someone who finds clarity and peace in the mountains, I can say that the Sangrada connected with me