The Sagrada Familia is a Barcelona church designed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. He began building it in 1882 and if things go as planned the structure will be complete in 2026. Gaudi was a especially religious man.

Building the church was so important to him, that later in his life he labored on it exclusively, and even moved onto the building site and lived there. He died in 1926 and is hidden in a tomb in the church. Gaudi’s other amazing architectural projects in Barcelona and hoteles barcelona have become important tourist attractions but the Sagrada Familia is his masterpiece.

During the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent rule of Franco not much work was done on the Sagrada Familia. In fact during that period Gaudi’s workshop was burned. Luckily many of his blueprints for the cathedral were saved. Although the models he had built of the church were smashed, enthusiastic friends, pupils and supporters painstainkingly pieced them back together.

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One of the reasons it has taken so long to make the church is Gaudi’s insistence that no government money be used to pay for it. The work is being funded exclusively by donors. These donors include the thousands of tourists from around the world who pay an entry fee to visit the church every year.
When complete the Sagrada Familia will have a chief sanctuary for worship and eighteen huge high towers. Elevators may whisk you to the top of 2 of the towers that are already completed for a spectacular vision of Barcelona.

The front of the church is decorated with more than a dozen scenes from the story of the Birth of Jesus designed by Gaudi. Each montage is made up of larger than life sculptures. You can observe a recreation of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, the visit of the Magi, the engagement of Mary and Joseph and a gruesome representation of soldiers murdering all the baby boys in Bethlehem.

The back of the church has a different set of sculptured scenes. These relate the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Designed by a longer modern artiste, but staying true to the plans laid out by Gaudi, these sculptures illustrate Biblical events.

A special element on this part of the church is a huge engraved grid with sixteen squares. Each square includes a digit. There are 321 ways to insert four different numbers from these squares to make the amount of thirty three, the digit of years Jesus lived.

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Gaudi loved the created world and used designs from natural world in all his buildings and hotel barcelona. Some of the Sagrada Familia’s towers appear like honeycombs. The main sanctuary is supported with pillars patterned after the trunks of giant California redwood trees. Its ceiling is sculpted to look like huge leaves. Natural illumination will filter in from above. Gaudi wanted people to feel like they were sitting in the middle of the forest as they worshipped.