When one thinks of Barcelona, one of the first things that come to mind is the Bascilica of the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece that has been under constructed since 1882. Its completion isn’t until 2026. Our visit to Sagrada today was something I will never forget. 
I don’t even know where to begin talking about this amazing building. I will say that it is impossible to see and take in all the details and architectural wonders in the building. We had seen a 60 Minutes story about Sagrada just a few weeks ago and we learned, then, some of the brilliance of Gaudi’s architectural genius. Even today, it has taken technological advances in design software to figure out how Gaudi had imagined this building.
Since the building is still being constructed much of the exterior, especially the towers and upper facades are covered over. But what you can see is totally overwhelming. The details of the sculptures covering the 3 facades is unbelievable. The Nativity façade explains the main facts about the early years of Jesus. You better know your Bible stories to really appreciate all that you see on this façade.
Gaudi also included lots of animals. Our friend JoAnn will especially appreciate the chickens.
The Passion façade, on the opposite side of the basilica, depicting Jesus’s death and resurrection, is quite unusual and has, as Gaudi put it, a rather sinister air. Gaudi only sketched his ideas for this façade, and so others had to keep true to all the pain and sorrow Gaudi envisioned for the Passion façade. The sculptures are very unusual because they are more modern and the figures are block-headed. It’s such a stark contrast to the beautiful sculptures on the Nativity façade.
The facades are really interesting and one could look up at them for hours and still not see all the things there. But now, let’s go inside.
Nothing prepared me for the awesomeness of this church. Your eyes go everywhere and see incredible beauty, light, color, and imagery. There are 36 columns of varying heights and they are imitation of trees.
Gaudi designed everything to inspire meditation and prayer. I found that I did just want to sit and think. It was a very moving experience being inside the basilica, very spiritual.
The ceiling vaults were incredible. We both said to each other that we’re going to have sore necks because of all the looking up, especially straight up, that we did.
And now, the light. Gaudi wanted to really infuse the basilica with natural light and with his architecture design for the walls of the basilica, he was able to create massive windows. Everything in the basilica has some meaning, including the stained glass colors and how Gaudi designed the way the light enters through the windows. It is truly awesome to walk around the basilica and see how the sunlight filters through the glorious stained glass windows.
We were at the basilica over 3 hours. We entered when it opened, and by the time we left, there were thousands of people milling about. We visited the basilica on Good Friday, which is a national holiday in Spain. I think probably added to the throngs. Although we did sit for quite a long while just contemplating everything, and listening to the audio guide, we eventually decided we’d had our senses filled by Sagrada.
We did go to the museum in the crypt, which was truly interesting because it gave wonderful detail about the design and architecture of the basilica, with lots of Gaudi sketches of his design. That could have taken hours to go through if we read all the information at the displays. There is an active workshop where they artists painstakingly create models of everything related to the basilica design and architecture.
This was an amazing place and we’re so happy to have had the experience. We both left feeling very moved and inspired.
We have hundreds of photos, so maybe I’ll post more at a later time. If you get your post in email, you may not be receiving all the gallery photos, so be sure to go the blog via your browser to see what I’ve posted here, www.adventuresctlb.com.