AMAZING FACTS ABOUT SAGRADA FAMILIA

Sagrada Familia is a breathtaking basilica and most attractive place to visit in Barcelona. It is the most famous tourist attraction not only in Barcelona but also in the World. In November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed it a minor basilica. Sagrada Familia is a part of UNESCO world heritage site.

Sagrada Familia is the largest Catholic church in the world located in Barcelona, Spain.

 It is designed by Ace architecture-Antony Gaudi and is still under construction from 1882, supposed to be completed in 2026.

HISTORY AND FACTS

Construction of Sagrada Familia was started in the year 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar.

Gaudi took over as chief architect after Villar got retired in 1883 and made radical changes in the original plan with his architectural and engineering style. Gaudi devoted his life to the project and buried in the crypt.

The Sagrada Familia Basilica was the inspiration of Josep Maria Bocabella who was a bookseller and founder of Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José. He got the inspiration of building the largest Catholic church in Barcelona by the basilica at Loreto after his visit to Vatican city in 1872.

The full name of Sagrada Familia is “Basilica I Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia”. It is an unfinished architecture and still attracts more than 4 million visitors every year.

When Antony Gaudi died in 1926, It was only 15-25 % completed.

Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the Spanish civil war by Catalan anarchists in 1936. The present design is based on reconstructed versions of the plans that were burned as well as on modern adaptations.

Since the 1980s,computer-aided technology is being used in the design and construction process of Sagrada Familia. CNC milling machines are being used to shape the stone.

Sagrada Familia will be the tallest religious building in Europe with a height of 170 meters after its completion.

Gaudi was very devotional by nature and he believed that human-made architecture should be shorter than god made structure (referring to the hill). That was the reason he kept the height of Sagrada Familia 170 meters (just 1 meter short of Montjuic hill height 171 meters.)

Gaudi believed that nothing is straight in this world, so he did not want Sagrada Familia to be a straight structure. He has done radical curves, patterns, sculpture and pillars with a free hand in Sagrada Familia.

FUNDING AND BUILDING PERMIT

Cost of construction for this basilica is 2.5 million Euros per year. It was not supported by any government and other church sources. Money from tickets purchased by tourists and private donations from the friends of the Sagrada Família is now used to pay for the work.

In October 2018, Sagrada Familia trustees agreed to pay €36 million to the city authorities, to land a building permit after 136 years of construction of Sagrada Familia. Most of the funds would be used to improving the  access between the church and Barcelona’s metro system

APPRAISAL

In the year 1960 art historian Nikolaus Pevsner referred Gaudí's buildings as growing "like sugar loave and anthills".

American Architect Louis Henry Sullivan greatly admired it. He described Sagrada Família as the "greatest piece of creative architecture in the last twenty-five years”

German Architect Walter Adolph Georg Gropius admired it by  describing the building's walls as "a marvel of technical perfection”

George Orwell, an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic called it "one of the most hideous buildings in the world.

American author, James Albert Michener called it "one of the strangest-looking serious buildings in the world.

British writer and Hispanist, Gerald Brenan stated that "Not even in the European architecture of the period can one discover anything so vulgar or pretentious.

FACADES

Sagrada Familia has three facades.

Nativity facades: It was the first façade to be completed and is dedicated to the birth of Jesus, decorated with scenes reminiscent of elements of life.

Passion facade: It was the second facade and is dedicated to the passion of Christ, the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion.

Glory Facade: It is yet to be completed and will be the largest and most striking of the facades. It is dedicated to the Celestial Glory of Jesus, it represents the road to God: Death, Final Judgment, and Glory.

VISITING

Online ticket purchase is available for visitors. Entrance to either of the steeples requires a reservation and advance purchase of a ticket. Visitors can access the Nave, Crypt, Museum, Shop, and the Passion and Nativity steeples.