La Sagrada Familia, the Jewel of Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

"My client is in no hurry" is what the famous architect Antoni Gaudi is reported to have said when challenged about the length of time it was taking to build his cathedral. Although not originally conceived by Gaudi­, it was he who changed the concept and inspired this temple of the modernist architectural school.

Beloved by Catalan and tourists alike, the Sagrada Fami­lia is truly the great jewel of Barcelona. The best way to approach the Sagrada Fami­lia is from the top of Ave Gaudi­. Start at the Hospital de la Santa Cre I Sant Pau, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hospital was designed by Lluis Domenech I Montaner, one of the great architects of the Catalan modernism school.

In Medieval times a Cathedral could take a long time to build, as it was often beset by money problems and war. Using methods not all that different from their mason forbearers, the builders of the Sagrada Familia have been working on this since 1882, and have a preliminary end date of 20 26, the centenary of Gaudi's death. Although not originally started by Gaudi, he took it over in 1883 and it is to be his masterpiece.

On a cold winter's day it is possible to see the cathedral from the top of Ave Gaudi, when the trees are barren. In spring and summer you often see tourists and locals wandering down the avenue, tantalized by the occasional glimpse of the Cathedral amidst leaves and trees.

Around the Cathedral there are thousands of tourists, and it is recommended that you try to see it from the outside at night or the late evening. This way you can avoid the occasionally chaotic crowds on the narrow pavements around the building. This is a UNESCO world heritage site and gets around 2.8 million visitors a year, and is Barcelona's premier tourist attraction.

Getting inside costs -24 per person for the full package, but you Could pay the basic package for -15. You don't get an audio guide or a view from one of the towers at this reduced price, but it may be better for the budget-conscious. It is recommended to book in advance, especially in the high season (May- October).

When Gaudi was quizzed about how long it would take to build it, he is said to have remarked "My client is not in a hurry". Indeed, the Cathedral had been feared lost during the Civil War in 1936, when anarchists burned parts of the basilica and some of Gaudi­s models. The Cathedral's design has been altered slightly over the decades by subsequent architects, and computer modeling was introduced in the 1980sunder Jordi Bonet I Armengol.

Despite being unfinished, the cathedral is a working church, having been designated a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and religious services take place here. Tourists often confuse the building as the cathedral of Barcelona, but in fact the city has had a functioning cathedral since medieval times, which is called la Catedral.

From the inside the church feels humble, at least in comparison with its ornamental design on its exterior. Interestingly, very few of the interior surfaces are flat. The stonework is constantly bending and moving around, its columns multifaceted, square bases morphing into octagons, and then into circles as they reach the top. You can spend hours studying this, appreciating the various influences which Gaudi worked with. It is not too hard to see his rather modest Country roots at play here, the pillars give birth to supporting branches as they near the ceiling, and it creates the impression of a forest roof.

The windows are situated so that the light is cast with shadows, as if walking underneath a forest canopy. The church has three facades, the nativity facade, the passion facade, and the glory facade, which face east, west, and south respectively.