The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain

*WS48 – the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain*

After looking at a Buddhist temple complex and some mosques, now look at an extraordinary church. Sagrada Familia or the Basilica of the Holy Family is a Catholic church still under construction in Barcelona. It is the legendary architect Antoni Gaudi's finest masterpiece. Construction began in 1882 and it became Gaudi’s life work. Gaudi died in 1926 and he lived to see only a fraction of the structures completed. It is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site despite still under construction. 

The building process dragged on slowly through the wars until the 1950s when construction began in earnest. We visited this place in 2017 and there were then 8 completed towers and two facades. Gaudi’s plans called for 18 towers and 3 facades. It is targeted for completion in 2026, the centennial of Gaudi's death. Funding is provided by the public and ticket sales. Some 4 million visitors a year now, to a building under construction, each paying RM 100 on the average.

1st photo shows the building from the north-west direction, with towers and cranes vying for space in the sky.  The cone-like structure to the left is the Sacristy. 2nd shows details of the tip of a tower, one of the 8 Apostles' Towers (110 m tall) already completed.  

Two of the 3 facades are completed. The east-facing Nativity Facade (birth of Christ) was completed around 1932 with a myriad of "traditional" sculptures, in accordance with Gaudi’s design. The 5th photo shows the newly completed Passion Facade (the last days of Christ) with modern sculptures, still Gaudi’s design. 

To most of us the most stunning is the interior. It is a forest of columns branching out at the top to support the parabolic vaults, a kind of tree top envisaged by Gaudi. Light easily filtered through bestowing the religious space with spiritual illumination. The last photo shows the umbrella or canopy above the high altar. Only Gaudi!

And the last note: all this while the construction was carried out without a building permit from the city. The permit was finally granted in June 2019. The building committee would pay the city over RM 200 million in the next decade as fine and reimbursement of cost by the city on security, traffic improvement, etc.